Kyuubi? Who, Me?
by Cynical Kyuubi
Summary: An unforeseen trauma during his sealing has stricken the Kyuubi with amnesia! He wakes with no idea who, or what, or where he is. Young Naruto Uzumaki finds himself trying to figure all this out and help this giant wry-fox, all while still trying to prepare himself for the ninja academy. Maybe things will all work out in the end? Only time will tell.
1. Chapter 1: Awake and confused

_**Before we begin...**_

A few important things you should know

First and foremost, this story began as just a concept I had wriggling around in my head that refused to bugger off until I put it to writing. Lo and behold, people seemed to like it, so I kept writing, aaand now I'm over 100 thousand words and several chapters past where I thought I'd be.

This story was supposed to be a divergent style story that closely followed canon, but eventually I came to the decision to just make it a full blown AU. As such, I'll still be following canon, albeit _loosely_. I won't shy away from taking a few artistic liberties here and there.

I've tried to keep a consistent schedule with this, but work has made things very difficult lately. I'm able to

I'll use these pre story AN's for answering questions (until more folks get to the facebook page) and updates, etc.

If you enjoy this story, please leave a review and tell me what you think, or send me a PM. Getting reader feedback helps me gauge my progress and determine what I'm doing right and doing wrong, it helps me improve. No pressure, and I won't judge you for choosing not to, just putting it out there that I really appreciate reader feedback and I'm open to constructive criticism. I'm writing this story for fun, but I also want my readers to enjoy it too.

This is the standard format for my story:

"normal speech"

 _'Normal thoughts'_

 **"Kyuubi speech"  
**

 **' _Kyuubi thoughts'_**

I'll be using horizontal lines as scene transitions, and use parenthesis with location and time as needed.

If you want to get involved with the story, I made a facebook page under the same name. Feel free to swing by.

 ** _Edit_** : Revised the format of the chapter, minor spelling and grammar changes, configured the paragraph style to be easier to read. Made the author's notes less word vomity.

I'll be doing similar edits to the rest of the starting chapters.

(End Author's Note)

* * *

(Location: ? Time: ?)

From an emptiness, simultaneously endless in its expanse and yet feeling like a mere blink in time, the being became conscious of itself. Its eyes gradually forced themselves open, an impressively painful headache made every thought a laborious and uncomfortable process. With an air of uncertainty and confusion, it began to look around and take in its surroundings.

The most obvious detail made itself known to the being immediately, and likely would have even if it hadn't opened its eyes. The floor was covered in a liquid of some sort; the best guess is that this was probably water, though there was the off chance it may have been something less pleasant. The being decided to not make its headache worse chasing that paranoid thought any further, it would only serve to make an already bad situation oh so much worse.

The next immediate detail was that there was a red gate of some sort, directly in front of where the creature's face rested. The gate was closed, and seemed to be sealed, though had no obvious details to hint at whether it was locked or not, at least from this side. Peering through the gate, a long, dimly lit hallway could be seen. The hallway was possibly a never-ending series of corridors, but that was just an assumption based on what could be seen.

Glancing behind itself showed a gradual fade to a blackness, it seemed endless at first glance, but the outlines of a wall could just barely be seen in the inky darkness. Moving its gaze in any other direction saw more walls, sterile, blank walls. Judging by everything that could be seen, the creature seemed to be in some sort of cage.

Eventually, the thought of **_'where….am I?'_** , managed to enter its mind after a bit of effort. Its mind tried branching out and it was immediately met with more of the pain from its earlier headache, reminding the creature that, yes, its head was still very much in pain.

The next thought that stumbled into the creature's mind was, **_'who am I?'_** It lifted its head and looked down into the water.

Crimson, slitted eyes looked back at itself, the thought that followed was a cautiously curious, **_'...what am I?'_**.

After some time had passed, it moved its head to try and look upon itself. Its eyes were met with red/orange fur that covered an animalistic, yet semi humanoid body. There was a cluster of nine flowing tails that had been laying as limp the rest of its body, though they were now starting to stir and become more animated as the rest of the body came under the being's conscious control.

After taking the details of itself into consideration, it made the assertion that it was something canid, a fox maybe? It could have passed for a wolf, though looking closer into the reflection established that it was indeed a fox of some kind. Its crimson eyes blinked as they observed, taking in the details of its visage.

It was definitely more fox like in its appearance; a long, slender snout (slender being relative), elongated canid ears, black canid lips and a black pattern of fur covering around its eyes and leading into its ears. It noted, however, that it wasn't specifically an animal, neither was it quite humanoid enough to sway anywhere in that direction either, it was an uncanny mix of both, at least as far as its body was concerned. Its head though, that was undeniably animal in its features.

 ** _'Ok, I'm some sort of fox…thing? A semi humanoid fox thing… with nine tails. I'm trapped in some sort of cage, there's water covering the floor, and there's an endless hallway just outside the cage.'_** the fox thought to itself as it proceeded to lift itself up off the ground and slowly move over to take a seat at the gate.

 _ **'…That brings up a lot more questions than it answers,'**_ it sighed to itself, **_'but at least I have a better idea of what I am and where I am, sort of.'_**

After staring at the gate for a short amount of time, the fox worked up the courage and cautiously lifted its oddly humanoid hand towards the gate. It momentarily stopped to take in the details of its hand, **_'hmm, I was expecting paws…but I won't complain about having opposable thumbs._** ' It then gingerly pushed on the gate with one outstretched finger, then motioning to push with its palm. It sighed to itself when, naturally, the gate didn't budge even by the tiniest margin, though the fox quickly changed its attitude when it realized that at least the gate hadn't been laced with some sort of sinister trap.

Without hesitation, the Fox then slammed into the gate full force using its shoulder as the primary impact source. The Fox let out an audible cry of pain afterwards when, as the fox should have expected, the gate again refused to budge and was made of a very unforgiving material that absorbed very little of the impact and left the fox to slump down before the gate, clutching its now understandably sore shoulder.

 _ **'AARGH, that was STUPID, why did I do that? Why did I think that was a good idea?'**_ , the fox angrily berated itself, but soon stopped as it realized that it actually hadn't thought that through at all.

 _ **'OK then, mental note, think before doing something like that again, should have been obvious in hind sight, but…whatever, on to more pressing concerns.'**_ The Fox was quick to recover, soon wandering about the cramped confines of its cage, looking for any semblance of an exit. There was an audible sigh once the obvious reality of the situation set in. This was a _prison._

 _ **'Of COURSE there isn't going to be any way out of here besides the main gate. The gate that's locked, because this is a prison, right…'**_ , the fox huffed and plopped down onto the ground in frustration, the exceptionally painful headache decided to remind the fox that it was still there, causing the fox to groan and now clutch at its head.

 ** _'Alright, so… I'm in a cage, I'm a nine-tailed fox, I have a raging headache, and I have no conceivable means of simply leaving this dungeon at the moment.'_** , the fox assessed its situation a little bit further, soon probing into its mind to see if it could find anything useful.

Before the headache chased away this mental exploration, the fox managed to discover that it had access to a decent selection of knowledge and information, but nothing that would be of much use in the current situation. It rubbed at its temples tenderly, trying anything it could to remedy the intense headache, with limited results.

The Fox categorized and organized the knowledge it managed to pull out, taking note that the headaches seemed to grow stronger whenever it tried to pull anything from its memories. A fresh intensity of the headache reiterated this to the fox when it tried rooting around in the foggy cloud of its mind again, and it gritted its teeth in response to the pain. **_'Rrrgh, dammit, fine, FINE! I get it! Keep out of the memories…for now…'_** , he conceded, folding his arms and laying his head upon them.

 ** _'At any rate, I still haven't quite figured out what exactly I am, or who I am, for that matter… come to think of it…'_** A quick glance between the Fox's legs to determine gender proved fruitless, as it had nothing to give itself any distinction either way. The fox furrowed its brow, but swiftly chastised itself after a line of thought and contemplation brought about another reprimand from its headache. 'Wait, why am I worried about _that_ in the first place? Literally none of that line of thinking matters so long as I'm stuck here in this damned cage!'

* * *

Time passed by, the Red-Orange fox beast had proceeded to scour over each and every corner and wall of his prison, determined to find something, anything at all that could lead to his freedom from this cage, despite the fact that it'd already thoroughly checked every nook and cranny that the cage had to offer and found nothing time and time again. 'Dammit! There has got to be SOMETHING here, something I'm missing!', the fox stated as he pursued his fruitless endeavors with a renewed vigor.

A light bulb lit in the fox's mind, which it immediately whacked itself in the face with for how painfully obvious of an idea it was. The fox took in a breath, aimed its gaze out into the endless hallways, and then let out a bellowing shout. **"HELLO? IS ANYONE OUT THERE? HELLOOOOOOO!"** , it yelled as loud as it could.

The voice the fox emitted was fairly masculine, though one would be hard pressed to think about that finer detail, given how deep and thunderous the sound of the voice was. **_'OK, additional information…I'm a male, and I must be monstrous if my voice is that deep and capable of such a high volume. Just how big am I? For that matter, how strong am I? Ah well, questions for later…'_**

He was silent and listened for a possible reply if anyone had been nearby to hear that. Given how loud he had managed to make his voice, the fox asserted that, surely, anyone within several miles would have heard that, _especially_ given the acoustics of his prison and the hallways connected to it. **_'That is, assuming this place has an entrance…'_** , he furrowed his brow and grew disheartened at the implications that popped into his mind. The fox shook his head and tried to dismiss the implications, this place HAD to have some sort of entrance, right? Otherwise, how else would he have gotten here?

That was another thing that remained unanswered, how _did_ he get in here? A fresh dose of pain from his headache quickly waved away that question nearly as quickly as it had cropped up. The fox's already monstrous quantity of frustration was steadily growing with each passing minute now, having next to nothing in the way of answers or possible avenues of escaping this prison.

Eventually, the fox's frustration at the situation at hand reached a boiling point and he started to lash out. He thrashed about with his cluster of tails, each independently whipping and slamming at the floor, walls, gate, etc. At the same time, the fox dashed about in the confined space, bashing himself against the sides of his prison, rapidly jumping and clawing and slamming in vain at and into the three solid walls and gate.

The significant lack of visible damage only increased his frustration and egged him on in his outburst. The fox was soon screaming in rage at the situation, this damned cage, his powerlessness to free himself, his lack of memory and confusion regarding who he was and where he was, the headache that was only growing progressively worse the more he thrashed about and raged against the inanimate surroundings. He was furious, but without anyone or anything to direct his fury at, so he simply continued directing the anger at the inanimate cage that held him.

After an uncertain amount of time passed, the fox's rampage gradually died down. His anger and frustration had largely dissipated due to the onset of exhaustion; a sense of despair begun to take place of the anger. The pain that resulted from his body impacting into the walls and gate repeatedly had helped curb his rage by a significant margin. He slumped over and sprawled out onto the ground with an audible sigh, light splashes went to either side from the liquid that, the fox noted, still coated the surface of the floor in this pseudo dungeon.

Once he'd calmed down enough, he considered that little detail, _**'That seems a little odd, now that I think about it… if this is a prison, shouldn't there be something to allow for the water to drain to prevent flooding?'**_ , the fox observed, taking mental note of that, adding another piece to this elaborate puzzle he found himself in.

 **"Come to think of it, how did the water get in here? There has to be some sort of entrance, or opening to the outside world,"** he said aloud to himself.

A few moments passed, and he proceeded to take another deep breath before bellowing once again, " **HELLO? IS ANYONE OUT THERE? ANSWER ME! SOMEONE, ANYONE! RELEASE ME**!"

* * *

Many hours later, the fox was in a leisurely, prone position on the floor. He idly swished the tips of his many tails through the water around him while he rested his cheek in his palm lazily. He exhaled through his nostrils before mumbling to himself, **"So, for the most part, my situation hasn't changed since I first woke up in here. That being said, my headaches have died down to a much more tolerable level, so at least I've got that going for me, which is nice."**

Out of boredom, he waved a free hand through the water and splashed some of the liquid at the red gate that still stood there, seemingly taunting the fox and his predicament. The fox gave the gate a glare and splashed more water at it, **"take that!"** He smirked triumphantly at the wet sheen that now coated part of three of the lower bars of the gate.

His triumph was short lived, however, as the red/orange fox remembered that this was still an inanimate object he was directing his anger at. His look of triumph quickly turned to a scowl and he laid his head onto the ground with an audible huff. Given that the fox literally had nothing else to do, he conceded to the gate and decided to let his eyes slowly shut. Before he realized it, sleep had taken him.

* * *

Several hours, possibly days later (it was nearly impossible for him to keep track of time by any stretch of the imagination at this point, despite his best efforts) the fox woke from his slumber. The "dreams" that he could recall added considerably more confusion to the situation. These "dreams" largely consisted of odd sequences where the fox found himself in the form of a human child, in what he could only assume was some sort of town or small city.

The inhabitants he encountered were…unpleasant, to say the least. Either they'd avoid him like he was afflicted with some sort of disease, or they would berate him with all manner of thinly veiled insults and were generally disrespectful, to put it mildly. The fox mulled over the strange "dreams", if he could classify them as dreams, given how oddly consistent and vivid they were.

He'd spent a good portion of time deep in thought about the unusual dreams, but he eventually came to the decision to momentarily set the thoughts aside for later, in the off chance that he'd have more information about where he was and how he'd come to be here…in addition to the other obvious questions that still remained unanswered. As of right now, there was no feasible way for him to try and figure any of this out. He sighed and resigned to the situation yet again.

* * *

The fox lay on the ground and dragged his claws over the poles that made up the gate, seeing if he could determine what material they were made from. It was possible that he could find a way to damage the gate, maybe try and wear down the gate little by little until he made an opening big enough to fit through. **_'Not likely…given how much strength I put into that rampage…'_** He made the motion to sigh, though it turned to more of a growl as his frustration grew again. He took a deep breath and shouted once more, " **IF ANYONE IS OUT THERE, I DEMAND YOU RELEASE ME! YOU'D BETTER LET ME OUT OF HERE, OR ELSE I'LL-"**

He swiftly chastised himself, **_'dammit, what am I thinking? Nobody is going to come if I threaten them!'_** he then groaned and tried again, this time with a slightly more…humble approach.

" **I DON'T KNOW WHY I'VE BEEN LOCKED IN HERE, BUT I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IT IF YOU WOULD RELEASE ME, IF ANYONE CAN HEAR ME!"**

The fox waited for a response, and when none came he felt himself growing frustrated and angry again. Angry at this cage, angry at not being able to remember how he'd gotten here, angry at not knowing his own damn name! **' _Damn all of this!'_** he thought, and then proceeded to descend into a fit of rage and thrashed about in his prison once more, screaming and shouting at the gate that still stood there, unscathed by any of his best efforts to break it down.

" **LET ME OUT, LET. ME.** _ **OUT**_ **! RELEASE ME,** _ **NOW**_ **! YOU CAN'T KEEP ME IMPRISONED IN HERE LIKE THIS!** _ **LET. ME. OUT**_ **!"** The halls echoed with his screams of anger and despair, as well as the various sounds of his body impacting off the walls and the gate.

As was the case with the last time, he eventually tired out, though this time he'd raged at his prison for much longer. He had no idea how long he'd been like that, screaming and raging at the gate and the featureless walls, though judging by how exhausted he was and how sore his body was…he decided it was fair to assume that it had been significantly longer than the last time.

 **"Please...please, let me out..."**

* * *

Days passed in similar fashion, the fox would wake up after a session of more of those strange dreams, he would search his prison for any sort of change that he could try and take advantage of (to no avail), then he would shout and scream to try and see if anyone was near enough to hear him. The fox cycled between boredom and frustration, then anger and despair.

The former led him to calling out in the off chance someone would hear him, the latter leading to him screaming and lashing out at the gate and walls, which lead to him suffering self-inflicted injuries. Afterward he would succumb to exhaustion and sleep, though he rarely ever fought sleep due to the fact that there was never anything else really to do aside from his normal schedule of screaming and vainly thrashing against his cage.

The dreams never helped any either, the strange town and its inhabitants. He would encounter people he didn't know and yet seemed to recognize, though he couldn't put a name to them. He could recall speaking, though not with his own voice and not of his own conscious thought. It was like he was watching someone else live out their life, though who this person was, the fox had no idea, not even a clue.

Things continued like this, days melted into weeks, though after some time, the Fox gave up with trying to keep track of time altogether and simply went along with his improvised schedule.

* * *

The fox lay there panting, nursing his self-inflicted wounds and grumbling all manner of obscenities to himself after his latest frustration/desperation induced rage fest. He'd been preoccupied with his injuries and his anger, so much so that he hadn't heard the footsteps that were slowly approaching the gate from the hallway.

He stopped abruptly once he became aware of the footsteps. Thoughts flooded his mind, all manner of ideas and hopes and desperate pleas raced through his head as he slowly turned to look upon whoever this was that had finally come forth.

The fox wasn't sure who or what he was expecting, but it wasn't the blonde haired, blue eyed young boy that currently stood before the cage at that moment. The two locked eyes and the boy's expression by now had rapidly changed from one of uncertain curiosity, to one of terror.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

SO, this is my first fanfiction on this site, the first time I've made a legitimate fan fiction based on a series I liked. I've written some short stories before as a hobby, but this is the first time for a true fanfiction.

I started this because of a concept that I had running rampant in my head, a concept that just wouldn't leave me alone unless I put it down on paper. I searched and didn't really find anything similar enough to this idea I had, so eventually I decided, "why not?" and I started writing.

This story is the result of that, and judging by how many followers this story has acquired, I'm convinced that I should see things through.

I have a core concept and an assortment of plot elements that I'm driving the story forward with, as of this point in development. there is a "beginning and end" figured out in my head for the core of this story, but I'm leaving things open and flexible for other elements in the story to influence the core in meaningful ways, In addition to reader input. I'm also leaving open the possibility for spinoffs in the future, as well as potential divergent points and crafting separate stories for these alternate scenarios and how they would affect the story were they to happen.

I'm going to make it a point to seek viewer suggestions for certain scenario's in the story, depending on whether I follow more closely to canon or take more artistic liberties. A major example of what I mean is, for example: whether to keep Naruto in Team 7 and keep things more along the line of canon, or maybe fit him into a different team like I've seen some other fan fiction writers do to great effect.

I'm not super confident in coming up with interesting plot points on my own outside canon story sets, but I'm going to do my best. I'd also be happy to brainstorm with more experienced writers if they want to take a stab at coming up with something interesting. I may be writing this story, but I want to make sure my readers enjoy this too.

Ahem, anyway.

As far as the Kyuubi is concerned, the major point of all of this is that he's been afflicted with retrograde amnesia. He has zero recollection of any events prior to being sealed in Naruto. My concept revolves around this idea and how it will alter his personality and his interactions with Naruto and the rest of the ninja world. He has an assortment of knowledge and information at his disposal, but how much is yet to be determined. He's going to be the most substantially different character in this fic compared to his canon counterpart. However, it should be said...he may have retrograde amnesia, but I'm _not_ just going to treat him like a blank canvas. He's still going to be cynical, shrewd and have a dark sense of humor like he does in canon.

For Naruto himself, I'm starting this story off with him prior to enlisting at the Ninja academy. He's going to be about 6 years old as of this beginning chapter. There's going to be significant changes to him as a character over time, but I'm going to do my best to keep these changes as believable as possible and remain true to his core character.

I'm going to try and keep characters true to what their canon qualities are, for the most part. I'll give them realistic progression according to the events in this story, but I don't plan on making any drastic changes unless events in the story call for it.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2: Awkward Introductions

**Author's pre-story Notes:**

First, some questions.

KyuubiFan325: _"whats your update schedule?"_

I originally intended for a schedule of "once a week", but that's been thrown out the window due to recent life events. My current schedule is still up in the air, but I do my very best to try and have a chapter out within the time frame of a month. If I can get things settled down in my home life, I may be able to push for twice a month.

Guest: _"Is this going to be a story that starts out focusing on kurama and then later completely ignoring him and focusing on naruto because I really hope not there are a lot of fanfics that do that and it's a bit disappointing."_

Oh absolutely not, my friend. Kurama is going to be an integral part of this story from beginning to end, with possible offshoots and omakes here and there. Without giving out any spoilers, I can assure you, I'm not going to "forget about Kurama", **ever**. He may not always be the focus of the story, per-say, but he's **always** going to be there as a main character and a core element.

I can definitely sympathize with you though, there are several stories I personally enjoyed that set up scenarios and interesting AU's that quickly stop paying much attention to the significant detail unique to that AU roughly halfway in. In some cases they abruptly change the focus and forget the plot point they established entirely, in favor of something else. Its really frustrating to see, especially in the more unique AUs (IE: some of the "Naruto is adopted as a child by a ninja clan" stories, especially the good Inuzuka clan themed stories). Rest assured though, that this will NOT be the case in this story. Kurama is a main character in this tale, and there will be many a plot point revolving around his newfound role in my fiction.

Thats it for this author's note. ENjoy!

 **EDIT:** Reformatted the paragraph to be easier to read, minor alterations in spelling & grammar, etc. Edited out some continuity errors, one such being Naruto doesn't know what Kanji is at this point, yet references it for some reason (d'oh). Also edited in Naruto using his name in the flashback, since its specifically from his perspective and I use way too many epithets in these early chapters. Also, edited in some wording that got removed in the editing process for some reason (I'm starting to hate the document editor)

* * *

 _The fox wasn't sure who or what he was expecting, but it wasn't the blonde haired, blue eyed young boy that currently stood before the cage at that moment. The two simply stared at one another, the boy's expression quickly changing from one of uncertain curiosity to one of fear._

* * *

(Location: "the Fox's cage", Time: N/A)

The blond-haired boy had a subtle tremble as he stood there, looking up at the fox with that wide eyed, fearful expression still on his face.

The fox glanced about in the awkward silence that filled the room, desperately trying to think of something to say to break the silence and ease the situation.

The boy was dressed in an old T-shirt and a ragged pair of pants, as well as a hoodie that was currently tied around his waist like a makeshift belt. The fox made further note that the boy had what looked like scratch marks on both of his cheeks that made a pattern resembling whiskers.

As the boy's expression grew worse, the fox decided to take the initiative and speak first. He lightly cleared his throat before speaking softly, trying to keep his voice low in order to not frighten the boy any more than he already had. Despite his effort, his voice still seemed to come across in the usual booming fashion, " **Hello there, child. Who, may I ask-** "

Before he could finish his sentence, the boy interrupted with, "Y-you!? That was _you_ , this whole time?"

This caught the fox off guard, not sure what the child was implying by this, " **Erm, you have me at a disadvantage here…** "

The child shook his head in denial, keeping his eyes trained on the fox with the same look of fear as of yet unchanged, "No…nonono! You can't be real! This, this all has to be a bad dream!" The boy pinched himself in an effort to force himself to wake, though this only caused him to yelp in pain and look back at the fox with a look that quickly degraded into terror as he realized he wasn't dreaming… Or at the very least, he wasn't able to wake himself up.

Seeing that the situation was teetering towards disaster, the fox tried again, this time lowering his voice as if he were whispering in a desperate attempt to lessen the boy's fear. **"Child, please listen to me, I'm not going to hurt you-"** and again the fox never got to finish his sentence.

The child was quickly backing away from the gate and refusing to break eye contact with the fox. "N-not going to hurt me? You think I'm some kinda idiot? I _know_ how these stories end! The kid gets close, too close, and the monster _eats him!_ The _second_ he lets his guard down he gets eaten! Not me, nuh-uh! I'm not falling for your tricks and I'm sure as heck not gonna be your snack, you damn fox monster!" It was at this point that the child had turned and made a break for it, running to the hallways at as fast a speed as he could manage.

" **Child, stop! Come back! COME BACK!"** The fox cried out in vain at the rapidly fading visage of the boy, cursing at himself for not adequately preparing for the off chance that his attempts at getting someone's attention had actually succeeded.

He slammed his balled fist into the floor nearby, cursing aloud now with some colorful choices of vocabulary. Several paragraphs of expletives later, he spoke in sentences that weren't comprised entirely of swears. " **dammit, DAMMIT!** _ **FINALLY**_ **someone comes to investigate my calling out for help, and they just up and flee in terror at the sight of me! Of all the rotten luck, it HAD to be some dumb** _ **brat**_ **didn't it? AAARGH!** "

* * *

The fox sat there brooding for quite a long time after that. ** _'Fantastic work, idiot. Spent all that damn time calling out for help, praying that someone would hear you, and lo and behold, someone finally responds! I sit there looking like an idiot, because it turns out I hadn't spent a lick of time preparing for how to handle the situation! Truly, impeccable strategy, what's next, am I going to get free of this cage and run into a trap that puts me in another cage? Brilliant! All this time in this damn cage trying to find a way out, and not even so much as an idea for phase 2.'_** He continued to berate himself for a good length of time, though he also made a point to have a legitimate plan for the next time he came in contact with someone.

At the very least, he'd be prepared for his next encounter, whoever that may be.

He decided that the biggest problem was his appearance, so he made it a point to try and take up a pose and posture that mitigated his intimidating visage as much as possible. He also made a point to try and avoid letting his anger and frustration seep into his voice, _**'Well, it's not a perfect plan, but its something.'**_

The fox shrugged his shoulders and went prone, **_'nothing to do now but wait. Hopefully either the brat comes back, or someone else comes to investigate.'_** He yawned and lightly stretched before rolling over onto his back and taking a brief nap.

* * *

A day later, the fox was laying on his back, staring at the featureless ceiling and making a box shape with his fingers and thumbs held together, holding the shape in front of his face like an artist taking a reference. " **You know…this place wouldn't be so bad if it had a mural or something up there… Though, to be fair, literally anything would be an improvement for this detestable prison.** " He spoke aloud to himself, having figured that speaking would help stave off the threat of going insane from boredom and isolation.

Unbeknownst to the fox, the boy had returned sometime over the past few hours and was watching the fox out of curiosity, though he made sure to keep his distance from the gate and not make any noise that would have alerted the fox to him being there.

The child was confused as to why he'd wound up back in this place, wherever he was. It was the same place he had been the previous night, the place with the giant cage that held the huge orange fox in it. He was just as frightened by all of this as he was the previous night.

 _'This…this isn't a dream, is it?'_ he thought to himself, silently watching the giant fox talk to himself and stare at the ceiling. He guessed that the fox was probably some sort of monster or demon, judging by the large piece of paper attached to the front of the gate with one of those old symbols painted onto it. In the stories he remembered, they'd use these kinds of things to imprison powerful evil spirits.

 _'B-but those were just stories, right? There's no way that this can be real… Maybe this is a nightmare that I just can't wake myself up from? Yeah, that has to be it! I just need to stay away from that monster until I wake up! As long as that dumb fox can't get me, I'll be safe and I'll wake up eventually.'_ the boy gulped and tried his best to strengthen his resolve, despite everything in his mind telling him to make a run for it. In the worst case scenario, he could flee out the hallway again like he did last time, but he was also kind of afraid of how creepy and intimidating the seemingly endless hallways were.

 _'I can at least get away from this guy if I have to, as long as the cage stays locked up… better than being trapped in a closed room with him, right?_ ' he concluded in his mind, keeping his eyes trained on the fox and watching for any sudden movements in case the big dumb fox tried anything sneaky…

While the boy stood there watching the fox, his mind wandered to the events leading up to all this.

* * *

(Location: "Konoha market", Time: "noon")

 _( **Flashback** )_

" _NARUTOOO!" cried the voice of a very angry baker chasing the boy down the streets of the village._

 _"YOU REALLY DID IT THIS TIME, YOU DEMON BRAT!" he continued to shout, despite the boy easily leaving him in the dust once he took a few alleyway shortcuts and snuck through a crowd that was focused enough on a local sales pitch to pay him much mind. He was gone, there was no way the baker would find him now._

 _Naruto grinned in satisfaction as he plopped down on a bench and reveled in his latest prank. The baker deserved it, he had no sympathy for a jerk like that guy._

 _The baker had decided to hike up the prices again when Naruto tried to buy himself breakfast earlier that morning. Despite the boy's protests and arguing that the baker never did this when anyone else bought breakfast, the baker had remained steadfast and refused to negotiate._

 _It wouldn't have been such a big deal, had the baker not decided to raise the price by so much that even one of those rich snobs from the wealthier districts couldn't afford to buy from the man's wares. That jerkface of a baker never noticed that Naruto had snuck in and replaced his sugar with salt, right before the baker was prepping his batch of sweets for the afternoon snack rush._

 _It wasn't until the baker took a bite_ _ _that he'd realized what happened_ and he angrily wailed with his hands waving in the air in exaggerated fashion, "RUINED! ALL OF IT! RUUIIIINNNED!" He was furious, though he only figured out that it had been the blonde because Naruto had started bursting out with laughter at the Baker's response and making it painfully obvious that he was the culprit. Luckily, he was always faster than the victims of his pranks…well, most of the time._

 _Naruto sat there on the bench, that satisfied grin still plastered on his face. "Victim" didn't feel like the right word, his shenanigans never came from a place of malice. He'd usually pranked people just to get their attention, but this time the baker needed to be taken down a peg._ 'heck, he already overcharges people for his crap to begin with, THAT much Ryo, for a tiny pastry? Its bad enough that he makes everything be super expensive when I'm there...but even when I leave he still makes his crap expensive? I mean, I'd be able to afford it at that price at least, but still! Its not like he makes anything all that special either. That pudgy bastard deserved it!'

 _He figured he was giving the baker his 'just deserts'. Naruto laughed at the clever pun that went through his mind, not noticing the angry visage of the baker rapidly closing in on him. He hadn't expected the baker to actually chase after him all this way, they usually gave up after he lost them for a few blocks. The blonde never saw him coming…_

* * *

 _Naruto lay in his bed later that evening, making a mental note to be much more careful the next time he pulled a prank on that pudgy baker. He'd been made to eat the entire batch of ruined treats that the baker prepared as punishment._ 'That, was the grossest thing I ever tasted in my life…' _he thought to himself and stuck out his tongue in disgust, remembering the atrociously salty taste of the sabotaged treats._

 _The silver lining that Naruto could take from this was that that damned baker had none of the usual snacks he'd normally sold in the afternoons thanks to the successful prank. That, and the boy had gotten free food out of it, albeit, nasty food, but food nonetheless._

 _He chuckled to himself and triumphantly declared, "Jokes on him!" before settling in under his bed sheets and slowly drifting off to sleep._

 _That night, Naruto was woken by a loud screaming from a booming voice he couldn't recognize. He first thought it was just a nightmare, but then the voices continued to scream and shout. He quickly glanced about his room, fearing at first that someone had broken into his house._

 _When the voice continued and with no one around for the voice to be coming from, at least that the boy could see, he cautiously laid back down in his bed, though he kept his eyes open and glanced about every few seconds to make sure nothing was sneaking up on him._

 _After another round of angry screams echoed in his mind, he called out, "H-hello? Who's there?" After receiving no answer, he tried again to no avail. "Come out from wherever you are, I can hear you!" Again, nobody answered and no one made their presence known. Despite this, the angry shouts echoed in his head, not loud enough to be uncomfortable, but, to the boy's dismay, loud enough to keep him awake._

 _Hours passed with the boy tossing and turning, trying anything and everything to get the screaming out of his head. Luckily, the shouting eventually subsided, and the blonde eventually managed to get a tiny portion of sleep, but this did little to ease the exhaustion he felt the next day._

* * *

 _The next day was misery personified. Naruto had been too tired to concoct any effective pranks that day, so he mostly stayed under the radar, much to the rest of the village's relief. He grumbled and groaned, struggling to keep his eyes open. "Man, I dunno how those big kids do it, pulling those full-nighters, or whatever they're called…this stinks…", he managed to get out with a hefty yawn._

 _Night couldn't come fast enough... but to his dismay, this night wound up being a repeat of the previous one._

 _As Naruto lay there in bed, besieged by the constant yelling and shouting again in his head, he groaned and wrapped a pillow over his ears in a desperate attempt to block out the sound. The pillow had zero effect on the screaming, just like the last time, "Shut up, SHUT UP! seriously, just SHUT. UP. Already!" he growled at the disembodied voice that insisted on throwing a temper tantrum when he was trying to sleep._

 _The worst part was that there was never anyone he could pin the voice to. It followed him when he decided one night to run off and find a quiet place to sleep away from his home out of desperation._ 'Dammit…I'd love to punch whoever the hell that voice belongs to…' _he thought to himself in his sleep deprived state._

 _Eventually Naruto came up with the brilliant idea to find time to sleep BEFORE night time, so that at the very least, he could prevent the angry voice in his head from depriving him from sleep. The plan worked, for the most part, and the boy was able to get some semblance of sleep, even if it wasn't all that great and it cost him valuable hours of daylight. Still, it was better than being exhausted all the time,_ 'well, its dumb, but it works…' _he conceded._

 _Weeks passed, and the plan was working well enough that he was able to function and occasionally pull off a prank or two, but he was still suffering from fatigue and lack of sleep. A disturbing detail he remembered vividly, was that when he tried sleeping at night, he would occasionally find himself waking up in a dark hallway that seemed to go on forever._

 _The floor was flooded almost up to his ankles, and he heard no small variety of strange noises coming from one end of the hallway. From what he could hear, it sounded like there was some kind of large animal in that direction, though he would occasionally hear that same voice that kept him up at night, albeit with less screaming and shouting. This strange place creeped him out to no end, and he usually just sat down in the hallway, glancing frantically in either direction to prevent anything from sneaking up on him. He would keep like this until he eventually woke up._

 _As time progressed, Naruto found himself more frequently appearing in that creepy, flooded hallway, making him dread sleeping during the night._

 _Naruto paid no mind throughout the following month, when the villagers started spreading rumors like "that boy can't even sleep now, this is a bad omen", "I heard that evil spirits keep him awake at night!" and other such elaborate fabrications. He didn't care, they were always saying dumb things behind his back, or to his face. He never understood why the villagers were always angry at him, the only thing he could assume was that it was probably due to his love of pranks, or something._

 _At any rate, he had more important things to worry about, such as what he was going to do for money, given how obnoxiously overpriced everything was for him specifically. As far as food was concerned, there was always Ramen Ichiraku. In addition to being one of the only places to actually charge him the same price they asked of everyone else,_ _ _they often gave him a free meal,_ and it was always a cheap, warm, _tasty _meal._

 _The blonde checked his frog pouch wallet, fist pumping as he counted out more than enough Ryo to buy ramen for the next couple of days at least, counting the free meals that the shop's owner would give him. Naruto didn't have enough for much else, but he'd be able to worry about that later. By far, going hungry was the worst part of all of this; as long as he had food, everything else that was crappy in his life was that much easier to deal with.  
_

 _Naruto let himself smile and plopped down for a quick nap on one of the many park benches scattered around Konoha. "Two more years…just two more years and I'll be old enough to join the ninja academy. I'll finally be able to be a shinobi! I can't wait!" He thrust a fist into the air, making a determined expression as he let his imagination wander. The boy grinned and laughed to himself._

'yeah, I'll be the greatest shinobi Konohagakure has ever seen! Me, Naruto Uzumaki, I'll make everyone acknowledge me with all the amazing things I'll do once I'm a ninja!' _His imagination soared, he pictured himself clad in_ _Jōnin gear with his own creative touches, standing in front of a crowd of Konoha villagers cheering his name as he posed triumphantly._ 'I'm gonna be the best ninja in the world, they'll practically beg me to be the next Hokage by the time I'm done.' _His grin grew wider and he clutched his fists against his cheeks, bubbling with excitement._

 _"Hehehe, yeah. They'll see, they'll all see, I'll prove myself to all of them! Everyone will finally acknowledge me, I'll never have to be alone again!" Naruto let his arms drop to his sides and he exhaled, keeping the big grin firmly planted on his face while his imagination continued producing scenarios of himself as the center of attention due to assorted heroics and other imagined accomplishments. He looked to the side and watched the leaves gently float past, appreciating the gentle breeze and listening to the leaves rustling in the trees nearby.  
_

 _Sleep soon embraced him, though, to his horror, he found himself waking up in the dark hallway again. "_ What the hell!? I thought this freaky place only showed up at night!" _he said out loud. "darn it, and it was such a good day too…" he added with an exaggerated pout._

 _Naruto's attention was drawn to the far end of the hallway when he heard what he thought to be whimpering of some kind. It sounded to him like someone was in pain… then the thought hit him,_ 'Holy crap, what if whatever that is at the end of the hallway, what if that's someone trapped or, or injured…or worse?'

 _The boy facepalmed and growled, "rrgh, I'm such an idiot! this whole time he's been calling for help and I've been ignoring him. Whoever this is, if I can find them and help them, maybe I can finally get some sleep again and be done with this funhouse reject of a place." He chuckled with a half satisfaction at his witty jab at the stature of the hallway. eventually he looked towards the far end with an uncertain half-brave expression on his face._

 _"OK, it's now or never! There's someone trapped in there, and I'm gonna do whatever I can to save 'em. Time to be a hero!" he tried to psyche himself up, but with limited results._

 _Naruto gulped and took cautious steps towards the sounds, despite everything in his mind yelling at him to go in the exact opposite direction._

 _He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting to see at the end of that hallway, but it definitely wasn't a giant orange fox monster. '…Oh…' was the only word that came into his mind as he stood there, staring into the crimson eyes of this enormous…fox…thing?_

 _And this had all lead to the situation the boy currently found himself in._

* * *

(Place: "Fox's cage", Time: N/A)

( **Flashback end** )

Naruto watched the fox and noted how he was still staring at the ceiling, holding his hands up like an artist would to plan out one of his paintings. _'The heck is he even looking at? There's nothing up there but a boring old ceiling…'_ he thought to himself as he leaned forward to get a better angle looking into the cage.

The boy stood there in silent observation, watching as the fox dipped one of its tails into the water and then proceeded to drag the tip of its tail across the ceiling like he was pretending to paint. His imagination quickly produced the image of the giant fox wearing a painter's smock and hat, standing in front of a priceless work of art in one of those fancy art exhibits and bragging to a bunch of rich snobs.

He couldn't help but chuckle at the mental imagery, slapping his hand to his mouth to stifle the inevitable laughter as his imagination continued along this train of thought. He wasn't entirely sure why the image of a giant fox demon in artists attire was funny to him at this very moment, but he couldn't help himself.

The fox's ear twitched at the sound of muffled laughter, the boy froze and paled as the fox turned and looked right at him with a less than amused expression.

" **Am I amusing you, boy?** " he asked in his lower volume, yet still deep and managing to convey an air of power and presence. At least, that's what the fancy books would have called it.

"N-no, I was just, umm...I was remembering a really funny joke, that's all, honest!" The boy managed to get out without letting his voice convey how utterly terrified he was at that moment. The fox merely stared down the boy with a blank expression and slowly blinked a couple times before he answered with a single huff of disbelief.

The silence was deafening as the two simply stared at one another again, just like the last time. This time though, the fox had a neutral expression, and the boy was trying to keep a brave face despite how intimidated and frightened he was by the giant orange fox.

Eventually the silence was broken by the fox, " **So…boy, is it safe to assume that you'll run away again, soiling your pants like last time, or are you willing to stick around long enough for us to at least have a full sentence of conversation?** " he stated, having a smirk on his face after he made the not so subtle jab at the boy's actions earlier. He'd done that more as a ruse to try and goad the boy into getting a bit of foolish bravery due to the hurt pride, rather than from any desire to insult him.

He felt like he'd had experience in dealing with humans before, from where or when and with whom, he had no clue, but he at least had knowledge in his mind. He hoped that this would work, but the boy was fairly young, still a mere child by his demeanor and appearance. He wasn't entirely sure if kids even had pride, but it was worth a shot.

Much to the fox's relief, the endeavor wasn't a waste of time, as he'd gotten a significant enough rise out of the boy that he was confident he didn't have to worry about him fleeing again too soon, at least enough to get his name.

"I did _NOT_ pee my pants, you big dumb fox!" the boy defiantly declared, this caused the fox to chuckle, which in turn made the boy huff angrily and fold his arms.

"Fine, whatever, I'll stick around and hear what you wanna say… you won't let me sleep if I don't. I haven't been able to sleep right for over a month, ever since you started waking me up with all your hollering and crap…" The boy glared at the fox, the fox glared right back.

That statement made the fox's fur bristle in a moment of rage, **_'he…heard me? This whole time, this damned brat HEARD ME, and he's only JUST NOW acting on it?'_** , the fox leapt up from his position and grabbed the bars of the gate with a snarl emitting from his lips and a furious expression on his face.

" **YOU HEARD ME!? THIS WHOLE TIME, YOU COULD HEAR ME, AND YOU DID NOTHING ABOUT IT UP UNTIL NOW?"** venom dripped from every word he bit out.

The boy couldn't help but fall backward onto his rump, trembling in fear at the sight of the enraged fox, terror gripping into his heart as he watched the gate with his breath held and silently prayed that the gate stood strong. He still wasn't entirely sure how much of this was real or not, but he didn't want to take the chance of that fox getting to him and it ending up being real all along.

The boy gulped and slowly got back to his feet and stood his ground, figuring that so long as that gate held, he'd be safe, but if the gate failed, he would have no way of getting away quickly enough before the fox caught him anyway. He breathed a small amount of relief as he noted that the gate seemed just as secure as it had been moments ago.

He folded his arms again and struggled to try and look less terrified than he was, "I don't know who...or _what_ you are, and I don't know where…uhh _this place_ _**is**_!" He said with his arms waving about in a general fashion, fighting back the fearful tone that creeped into his voice with his best effort.

"How the heck was I _supposed_ to react to waking up from voices in the middle of the night? I thought I was just going crazy or something! I didn't know there was a real person talking to me! Now here you are some giant demon fox! I've heard stories of people going crazy and hearing voices, you know? I was scared!" He'd made the best of his newfound bravery in the situation, being fueled further as he saw the fox's reaction.

Apparently, he'd made a good point, because the fox's expression changed from raw fury, to the face of someone who'd just decisively lost an argument and had the wind knocked out of their sails.

In the fox's mind, he was chastising himself with no small quantity of vitriol. He'd just been taken down several pegs by this blonde haired idiot of a child, and the sting it left in his own pride rivaled the pain he'd felt in his headaches from before. His jab at the boy's pride had practically backfired, though, to be fair, he did manage to accomplish his intended goal.

 ** _'This is humiliating, but at least I managed to salvage the situation… I think?'_** he shrugged and shook his head, **_'I'll take whatever I can get at this point.'_**

He took a deep breath and sighed, " **Look, boy, I think we may have…gotten off on the wrong foot here.** " He spoke in as calmly a tone as possible, going full "diplomacy" mode as best he could and having as close to a matching expression as he could muster in his current state of singed pride.

The boy simply snorted and glared back at the fox, taking full advantage of his newfound bravery, "Yeah, no kidding."

The fox resisted the urge to bite out a retort, deciding that he'd suffer through the blonde's disrespect just long enough to get some use out of him. " **I'm…in a bit of a predicament, as you can see.** " The fox motioned with his hands, gesturing to his prison.

The blonde haired boy merely raised his eyebrows and nodded with a grin, pointing at the fox, "I can see that… despite all that rage, you're just a fox in a cage!" he said, barely able to keep from laughing long enough to finish his sentence.

The fox had a clearly not amused expression on his face. He stared at the boy, casting all manner of silent judgement towards his poor taste in humor before finally speaking. " **Really?** _ **Really**_ **?** " was all he said with a very condescending tone, the boy continuing to laugh at his abysmal pun. The fox groaned and rubbed his fingers over the bridge of his snout. **_'I don't deserve this…'_**

After the boy stopped laughing, he looked back at the Fox and shrugged, "What? It was just a joke, lighten up."

To which the fox responded, " **That was possibly the WORST pun in the history of this entire planet.** "

The blonde defiantly furrowed his brow and folded his arms again, "Oh come on, it wasn't THAT bad…"

the fox shook his head in disagreement, " **Yes, yes it was, never do that again.** "

The boy simply sighed and mumbled to himself, "yeesh, what is with everyone I meet having such a crappy sense of humor?"

The fox lowered his head slightly and looked the blonde in the eyes. " **Have you ever stopped and considered that maybe, just maybe, it's** _ **you**_ **who has the crappy sense of humor?** "

The blonde dismissed that and laughed, "Ehh, that's what they all say. You should see my pranks though, those are pure gold!"

The fox blinked, _ **'oh great, a prankster, just what I needed…'**_ then the thought flicked into his mind, _**'wait a minute, maybe that IS just what I need right now!'**_ He went down to meet eye level with the blonde, at least, as well as could be managed given the immense size difference between them.

" **Pranks you say? Interesting, have you ever picked a lock before, by any chance?** "

The blonde shrugged and replied with a cautious, "Uhh…once or twice, maybe, why do you ask?"

This made the fox grin in his mind, " **Well, do you think you could take a look at your side of the gate and see if you can fiddle with the lock?** "

The boy, momentarily forgetting that he was talking to a giant fox monster after it had feinged interest in his hobby, tilted his head and furrowed his brow in confusion, "Lock? What lock?"

The fox restrained his anger and frustration for the moment, " _ **THE**_ **lock, boy, the lock keeping this gate held shut, obviously!** " the frustration barely contained in his voice.

The blonde looked over the gate and shook his head, "I don't see any lock, it's just a big gate with a giant piece of paper slapped onto the middle where the two gate doors meet. It's got a big symbol on it like what you'd see in those older books and scrolls, or comics…you think it might be cursed or something?"

The fox had a flicker of knowledge enter his mind. He swore out loud, making the blonde flinch.

"So…is that a yes or a no?" the Blonde asked nervously.

" **No, the gate's sealed shut, probably using some sort of fancy spell or magic that neither of us have any hope of undoing. I doubt you'll be of much use to me at this point.** " The fox uttered in a defeated tone.

After glancing around uneasily for a moment, the boy finally spoke and tried to ease the tension, "…Not even as a snack?" he asked with a chuckle and a nervous smile.

The fox managed to crack a smile at this, " **no, I'm not going to eat you,** **boy…",** it stated, though quickly added in a humorous gesture, **"you'd probably taste terrible anyway.** "

The boy indignantly responded with, "Hey, I taste just fine!" but quickly corrected himself and said, "Err, no, you're right, I taste terrible! You wouldn't want to eat me! Ehehe!"

A few minutes passed, the fox flopped over onto his side and lay there on the wet ground, his expression was…thoughtful? Depressed? The blonde couldn't tell, he'd never been very good at reading people's emotions under normal circumstances, and the fact that this was a giant fox demon just made things that much more difficult.

"So…umm…" He started with an air of uncertainty and reluctance. The fox's ear twitched in response, though he made no effort to move other than that. "What's your name, anyways?"

This made the fox raise an eyebrow and tilt his head just enough to cast one of his eyes to gaze over the boy. " **Why do you ask?** "

"Well, I mean, if you're stuck here and I can't let you out, and I'm gonna be stuck being brought here too and hearing you at night an' stuff…we might as well know each other's names, right?" The boy said with a smile, he seemed much less afraid now, though traces of fear still mingled in his tone from time to time. "So, uh, what's your name?"

The fox sighed, **_'well, I suppose maybe I can find some other use for him. It's not like I have any other options at my disposal…ah what the hell…'_** the fox shrugged and turned his head to face the boy.

" **Truthfully, I can't quite remember my name. I woke up in this place without any recollection of anything prior to waking up. I can't so much as identify who, or _what_ I am.**"

The blonde tilted his head, "Reco-…what?"

The fox dragged his hand over his own face in mild annoyance and reiterated in layman's terms, " **What I'm** _ **trying**_ **to say…is that I lost my memories. I can't remember anything about who I was before I woke up in this cage.** "

The child nodded in understanding, "Oh, I gotcha."

The fox wasn't interested in making friends, but he figured he'd at least be civil with the brat in the off chance that he could turn out to be useful at some point. After all, he was the only living thing to have come forth after his numerous sessions of rage and screaming at the top of his lungs. He didn't like it, but what other options did he have?

" **I assume** _ **you**_ **have a name though, correct?** " the fox forced himself to say. The blonde haired boy had been caught off guard by the question, having been perplexed by hearing the fox tell him that he wasn't able to remember his own name, and feeling a moment of sympathy for the big fox, judging by the expression on the boy's face.

"Huh?" was all the boy said in response.

" **What is your name, boy?** " the fox asked again, this time with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

The boy's expression warmed up and took on a smile, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, I'm gonna be the greatest ninja Konoha has ever seen!" he stated as if he'd recited the line at least a hundred times prior.

The fox grinned, trying to give off as friendly an expression as he could muster, " **Naruto Uzumaki? Hmm, I see, well, it is…nice…to make your acquaintance, Naruto Uzumaki.** " The fox paid no mind when the boy tilted his head in confusion at some of the words he used, Naruto didn't quite have his vocabulary filled out just yet it seemed.

He paid no mind to this and pretended to yawn, struggling to keep consistent with his "diplomacy" mode, " **I think its about time for me to take a nap, so…I'll let you get back to whatever it is you were doing, for now.** "

Naruto replied to this with a slightly annoyed tone and mild sass, "I was _sleeping_. You know, that thing that I have to do every night? That thing that you keep waking me up from?"

" **Right, right…err, about that. I'll be sure to try and _not_ wake you up in the middle of the night anymore... but in return, I expect you to respond when you hear me from now on, do we have a deal?**"

Naruto nodded, relief washing over him at the prospect of getting a decent night's sleep again and going back to a stable schedule. He was also very relieved that at least the fox wasn't some mindless rage demon thing like he'd thought before, _'he seems like an OK kind of guy... I guess'_ , Naruto thought to himself, _'at least as far as giant fox monsters go.'_

"Uh, y-yeah, sure, it's a deal!" Naruto still didn't know exactly what would come after all this, but he was happy to at least have the reassurance that he wouldn't have to be worrying about the screaming in the night anymore, that was a win in his book!

The fox had a broad grin on his face as Naruto turned to leave, though the boy had no idea how to get out of this place. After staring out into the hallway for a good few minutes, he shrugged and simply sat in one of the corners outside of the cage and waited for himself to eventually "wake up". He faded out of the room after the fox assumed he "woke up", though this entire situation was still all so very confusing, meeting the brat was of benefit, sure, but it also further added in more perplexing elements to this already elaborate puzzle.

* * *

The fox chuckled to himself and praised the luck he'd been given in meeting Naruto, **_'Not only is this brat easy to negotiate with, but he's got plans to become a ninja? I can work with that, ohh yes, I can most definitely work with that.'_** He breathed deeply and rolled over to get more comfortable, **_'If I have to make nice with this blonde idiot in order to get free of this cage and learn more about myself and how I wound up in here, that's a price I'm more than willing to pay. I'll put up with the brat for as long as it takes. Who knows, this little adventure might even be entertaining?'_**

The fox laughed aloud, letting his mind wander at the possibilities and potential for some time. He deemed the interaction to have been a huge success, despite how painfully awkward it had been in retrospect. 'Naruto Uzumaki…you may prove to be very useful to me indeed.' He gradually let his eyes shut, slowly wrapping his tails under himself to act as makeshift pillows and bedding, and although he hadn't intended to actually sleep, he soon found himself falling asleep anyway.

* * *

 _ **AUTHORS NOTE**_ :

I greatly enjoyed writing out the back and forth between Naruto and the Kyuubi in this one, I would go back to re-read what I'd written and find myself giggling at the exchange, so I really hope you enjoy reading these sequences as much as I enjoyed writing them. Having these two personality types interacting is a gem to write, it practically writes itself sometimes. I love it. Contrasting personality types make for the easiest and most fun interactions!

I feel like this chapter seems rushed in some places, but this entire sequence was very awkward to write. Though I suppose it fits the general theme of this chapter... Ironic, really.

I rewrote several parts of this to try and better fit into the mindset and mannerisms of a six year old Naruto, based on what I interpreted his behavior to be in the anime and the reasons behind why he acted the way he did. I took a little bit of artistic liberty, but tried to remain true to how I think Naruto might have behaved at that age accordingly, and which I will continue to do so, taking note of how his interactions with this cynical fox might influence his growth.

Naruto acts goofy, bright and cheerful despite his hardships, and he actively seeks attention from people due to his loneliness by any means, the easiest of which being annoying them. We also know that he's not necessarily dumb, he's creative and has moments of ingenuity even in the show. He's oblivious at times and often doesn't read the room or interpret people's body language correctly. I tried to convey this here, and hopefully I was on point. Feel free to give me any pointers or suggestions for how you think Naruto would behave.

I'm trying to convey the Kyuubi's cynical nature, without having him come across as an _asshole_. This is oftentimes very difficult; being a cynical person myself, I understand how easy it is to confuse someone being cynical with someone just being an asshole, oftentimes the terms go hand in hand (A cynical asshole). The Kyuubi is being a little bit manipulative in this chapter, but this is more as a means for him to make the best of his situation and be in control in the circumstances where he has very little real control at all. He may be the Kyuubi, but he DID lose his memories, that and he has no idea that he's sealed in Naruto at this point, or even the significance of who Naruto is.

As such, he doesn't hold any malice towards the boy, why would he? As far as the Kyuubi is concerned, the only thing Naruto did that he has any reason to really be mad at him for was when he made the atrociously bad pun at his expense. He doesn't necessarily like the boy either, he doesn't see Naruto as anything more than a tool he can possibly use to escape, or at the very least, seek answers with.

Same as last time, please PM me if you have suggestions or questions, and give me a review to let me know how I'm doing. I'll either reply to reviews directly, or feature them in follow up chapters.


	3. Chapter 3: Hitting the books (sort of)

**_Pre-story AN:_**

This chapter was short due to time constraints and the amount of things going on at the same time.

I plan on stretching chapter length considerably in future chapters.

 ** _Edit:_** _I've altered the paragraph format to be easier to read and keep track of dialogue between characters. I've also edited certain dialogue to make more sense and better match with continuity. Specifically, I altered the interaction between the kyuubi and Naruto during their trip to the library to be a more natural humor instead of what it was before. Instead of an obnoxious outrage response, the Kyuubi goes for a more scathing reprimand kind of response._

* * *

 _The fox chuckled to himself and praised the luck he'd been given in meeting Naruto, **'Not only is this brat easy to negotiate with, but he's got plans to become a ninja? I can work with that, ohh yes, I can most definitely work with that.'** He breathed deeply and rolled over to get more comfortable, **'If I have to make nice with this blonde idiot in order to get free of this cage and learn more about myself and how I wound up in here, that's a price I'm more than willing to pay. I'll put up with the brat for as long as it takes. Who knows, this little adventure might even be entertaining?'** The fox laughed aloud, letting his mind wander at the possibilities and potential for some time. He deemed the interaction to have been a huge success, despite how painfully awkward it had been in retrospect. **'Naruto Uzumaki…you may prove to be very useful to me indeed.'**_

* * *

Several days later…

( **Place** : Ramen Ichiraku, **Time** : late morning)

Naruto was seated at one of the barstools of Ramen Ichiraku, polishing off his first serving of the delectable noodle soup. He held the bowl up to his mouth and drank up the remaining broth in one go, exhaling in an exaggerated fashion once he'd fully finished the meal. "Man, that was tasty, thanks Teuchi-san!" he stated with a satisfied grin on his face.

The chef behind the counter smiled and waved it off, "It's no trouble at all, Naruto-kun, always happy to reserve a free bowl on occasion for my favorite customer!" Teuchi retrieved the empty bowl while Naruto sat and sipped at the remainder of the soft drink he'd ordered to go with his ramen.

A long while back, the chef had correctly guessed by Naruto's behavior that this was likely the only warm meal the boy ever got, but he'd intended that to be just a casual joke. It deeply saddened him to have had that be confirmed as reality, especially after he witnessed first-hand how the other shopkeepers would either refuse to serve him outright, or they'd charge him exorbitant amounts of money for something as simple as a loaf of bread.

He'd since then decided to take it upon himself to ensure that the boy at least had someplace he could go to as a source for meals. It wasn't much, but it was the best he could do for the boy, given how some of the more petty customers had decided to boycott him for serving the one they referred to as "the demon child".

 _'Ignorant cowards, treating a child in such a way…_ ', Teuchi always dismissed them. He believed Naruto was a good kid, and he could prove it if anyone ever gave him the chance no matter what anyone else said. "So, Naruto-kun, another serving of the usual?" the cheerful ramen chef asked of the boy.

Naruto was about to respond when his mind echoed with the familiar voice of the fox, " **Naruto, I need to speak with you, return to my prison as soon as you are able to.** " Naruto silently groaned, now having his lunch interrupted by that damned fox.

It was great not having the fox wake him up at night anymore, but it was still really frustrating that he kept calling out to him during the worst possible moments. _'Why does he always do this? It's like he purposely waits until I'm in the middle of doing something to ask me to come see him…',_ he sighed and shook his head to Teuchi, "Not right now, I've gotta go take care of something first. I'll catch you later Teuchi-san!" Naruto hopped off the barstool, waving to the Ramen chef and his daughter before heading home.

Teuchi waved back, "You take care of yourself, Naruto-kun! There's always a bar-stool for my best customer!"

* * *

Naruto made it back to his apartment and locked the door behind himself, kicking off his shoes before heading over to his bed. He plopped onto the sheets and rolled onto his back, laying there with his eyes closed and the image of the fox's prison held in his mind as best as he could manage.

Over the past few days, he and the Fox had struggled to figure out a means to reliably communicate with one another when they needed to, well, when the fox needed to, at least. Naruto could always hear the fox, but no matter what Naruto tried, he couldn't speak to the fox in return unless he went back to that creepy place the fox was imprisoned in. It was irritating and inconvenient, but the method they'd worked out was, at the very least, functional.

Naruto would have to mimic going to sleep with the image of that horrible place in his mind, no small feat for the boy as it required a decent amount of focus, and focus was something that Naruto simply lacked (unless Ramen or shinobi feats were involved). If he did it right, he would open his eyes and find himself standing in front of the gate, if not, the fox would mockingly tell him to "T **ry again, boy.** "

The blonde stood before the gate once again, looking up at the fox and folding his arms, "what's up, fox?" he would casually ask. He didn't bother to inform the fox that he'd interrupted him during lunch for the fifth time this week, as the fox only took a manner of satisfaction from hearing how he was inconveniencing the boy. Sometimes the fox even gave him a witty response that mocked his annoyance.

The past several calls, the fox simply asked Naruto dumb questions like how old he was, where he lived, who his parents were, stuff like that. Naruto hadn't noticed it at the time, but the fox recoiled and briefly changed his facial expression upon hearing for the first time that Naruto was an orphan and had been since the day he was born. Naruto hadn't thought anything of it at the time, after all, he never knew who his parents were, so why should he care if he didn't have them? This time, however, the fox looked like he had something important to say for a change.

" **I've come up with a new theory, and I believe I've proven this one to be correct over the past few days. I also think I've devised a better way for us to communicate.** "

The first time Naruto had heard the fox say "theory" he had to ask Teuchi and his daughter Ayame what the word meant, because the fox had grown tired of constantly explaining what all the fancier words meant and refused to use a simpler vocabulary. "And…?" Naruto asked, tilting his head slightly as he waited for the fox to continue.

" **We seem to share some sort of connection, mentally. After careful observations I've made, I believe I can confirm it one hundred percent.** "

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "yeah? So? What's so important about that? Didn't you figure that out when we first met?"

The fox simply shook his head and spoke with a tone that was laced with mild annoyance, " **Its more than simply you being able to hear me, brat. I've discovered that I'm able to see some of the things that you see, in addition to hearing some of the things you hear. If I concentrate, I can get a clearer sound and image. I think it will come to be useful in our future endeavors if I can refine it and figure out its nuances. This may be a way we can actively communicate, albeit indirectly.** "

Naruto couldn't help but lightly scrunch up his face at that, making the fox momentarily thin his eyes at the boy. " **…why are you looking at me like that? Did I use too many big words again?** " He'd added the last park with a mocking tone.

Naruto reached behind his head sheepishly, "no, well, maybe, but... I just…that's kinda weird, don'cha think? I mean, you being able to see what I can see an stuff…isn't that kinda like, peeping?"

The fox lightly recoiled and furrowed his brows in an expression of contempt, " **Of** _ **course not**_ **! Get your mind out of the gutter, you juvenile idiot! Like I said, it can be used to** _ **better communicate**_ **. If I can focus enough, I can send you a message the usual way, and you may be able to respond back without having to come all the way back here. Don't you understand?** "

After several minutes of trying to explain things to Naruto, the fox gave up, seeing that Naruto simply wasn't following along. **_'Its not like this fool has to understand how this works for us to be able to gain benefit from it.'_** The fox sighed and decided to move on to more important matters. He cleared his throat to get Naruto's attention, " **Moving on to other matters I wished to speak to you about… I think it's time for us to do some digging and figure out what exactly I'm supposed to be.** "

Naruto nodded slowly, "By us, you mean me, right?"

" **Precisely, does your village have a knowledge storage facility? A place where literature and writing is kept?** "

Naruto had a look of momentary confusion on his face before he stated hesitantly, "You mean like… a library?"

" **That sounds like it should suffice, yes.** "

Naruto rolled his head back and let out a loud groan, "But I HATE reading! It's so _boring_!"

The fox merely blinked at Naruto's choice of words and gave him a look that said **" _cry me a river, you brat"_** before voicing the very line his facial expression was conveying.

* * *

Upon his return to reality, Naruto groaned again and lazily rolled out of bed, _'man, this stinks…but that damn fox is just gonna nag me again like last time unless I go and do it._ ' The boy sighed and stretched a few times before going over to throw his shoes on and head out. He hated the idea of having to go and sift through a bunch of boring old books and scrolls, but he didn't have much of a choice. The fox tried to play it up like it'd be more fun than it actually would be, by suggesting he could learn things that would give him a head start in the ninja academy. ' _Yeah right, books are still boring, stupid fox. Why couldn't someone else have to deal with this guy? Why'd it have to be me with the nagging, grumpy, fox monster?_ '

He was on his way to Konoha Library by now, though he was taking his time and procrastinating as much as possible, "Yeesh, I know I was wishing for adventure and stuff, but I didn't want it to include _reading_ …" he muttered under his breath.

" **You** _ **could**_ **be locked up in a cage all day…** "

Naruto nearly faceplanted by the sudden intrusion into his thoughts, clearly not expecting anyone to respond to what he was thinking out loud to himself. He shot an angry retort, "Hey! No one asked _you_ , _dattebayo_!" he looked around, but saw that no one had been talking to him, and that several villagers were now looking at him oddly.

" **That was smart, now people are going to think you're going crazy.** "

Naruto gritted his teeth in annoyance and muttered a response, "You can hear me now?"

The fox laughed and replied with a smug, " **Speak up, boy, I can't hear you,** " causing Naruto to let out a frustrated growl. " **If you had paid any attention at all, you would understand how I'm doing this. I literally explained everything to you earlier, but you were too busy complaining. Now quit fooling around and get to the library!** "

Naruto eventually made it to the Konoha Public Library, stopping just short of the entrance and ducking into cover. After a few moments, the fox spoke, " **Naruto, what are you doing?** " to which Naruto replied in a whisper, "Hiding, duh. One of the librarians here hates me, I'm waiting to see if they're here today…"

Naruto quickly snuck a peek through the main door, sighing in relief when he saw no evidence that the Librarian was nearby. " **I'm almost afraid to ask, but, what sort of elaborate scheme did you manage to pull off in order for you to now be afraid of coming face to face with the Librarian?** "

Naruto simply grinned and laughed as he recalled that day.

* * *

( _ **Flashback)**_

 _Naruto waited until it was dark out before he executed his plan. This one was going to be a prank to remember, and he had all the time in the world. He picked the lock to the Library's back entrance and quickly ducked inside. Once he'd closed the door quietly behind himself, he rubbed his hands together, cackling maniacally, though quietly. 'Time to get to work, Dattebayo!' he declared in his head, and then proceeded to spend the rest of the night taking a large quantity of the books from both the "fiction" and "non-fiction" sections of the libraries in equal quantities and randomly swapping them. By the time he was done, dawn was approaching and_ _ _nearly half of_ the library's fiction and the non-fiction sections had been swapped with one another._

 _The best part, was that it'd be almost impossible to tell unless you took the books out and checked the titles._

 _Naruto snuck back out of the Library, locking the door as he left to ensure no one would be any wiser, and then found a hiding spot to watch and wait for the librarian to start his day._

 _Naruto counted down from ten once his primary target had arrived and stepped inside. He could barely keep himself from laughing, clutching a hand over his mouth and nose to prevent any sounds of his giggling from escaping._

 _Right after Naruto reached "One" in his countdown, a long, drawn out and bellowing scream of pure outrage and disbelief was heard coming from within the library, followed immediately by the cackling laughter of the perpetrator. The scream of despair and childish laughter could be heard from the walls of Konoha._

 _In a park near the walls, a young boy with red markings in the shape of fangs on his cheeks turned and asked a woman with similar markings on her own cheeks, "Mum, what the heck is that sound?", to which the woman only shook her head and said, "Idle hands, Kiba-kun, idle hands…" The dogs nearby barked in agreement._

* * *

( _ **Flashback end**_ )

The fox was speechless for a good amount of time after that.

" **You have** _ **far**_ **too much time on your hands…** " was eventually spoken.

"Why does everyone say that?" the blond said indignantly, though he ignored further conversation with the fox and focused on sneaking his way into the library.

" **So, that's why this librarian hates you?** "

Naruto simply blew a raspberry with his tongue, "Heck no, they never found out it was me. This old geezer hates me because-", " **You have an outstanding reputation as a prankster, a general public nuisance, and a** _ **thief**_ **?** "

The blonde's eyes went wide and he quickly shot back a defense, "That's not fair! I only took money from rich snobs, and it was only because those jerks in the market district keep making me pay more money than everyone else!"

The fox snorted, not buying Naruto's excuses. The fox refocused the conversation, " **So, what does this** _ **scary librarian**_ **of yours look like?** "

Naruto huffed before he responded, "He's an old geezer, he's got thick, obnoxious old guy glasses, and his face only ever has one expression: grumpy. You can't miss him."

Luckily, there was someone new tending to the duties at the reception desk. He seemed more interested in reading a graphic novel than paying attention to what was going on in the library. The other librarians also seemed busy tending to their duties in areas that the boy could easily sneak past or avoid outright.

Naruto took the opportunity to sneak past the receptionist when it presented itself. He'd gotten a knack for going around unnoticed when he needed to, though his obsession with wearing clothing with orange as the primary color often hampered his efforts, something the fox pointed out several times and which Naruto fervently denied.

The blonde snuck past successfully, and stopped at one of the book case junctions to inquire with the fox in his head. "So, what are we looking for, wry-fox?"

" **for the last time,** _ **don't**_ **call me that!** " Came the fox's agitated response.

Naruto countered with, "then help me come up with a name for you!"

" **I don't** _ **want**_ **a name, and I don't** _ **NEED**_ **a name! Especially not a name that** _ **you**_ **come up with.** "

Naruto scoffed, "hey, I come up with awesome names, you're just too picky."

 **"Coming from the boy who thought "** _ **Fen**_ **" was a suitable name, because, and I quote, "** _ **it's short for fennec fox, and you look like a fennec fox**_ **", not only was it bland and mindlessly simple, but it was** _ **insulting**_ **."**

Naruto just shrugged and made a face, "I thought it was a nice name, and besides, you kinda do look like a fennec fox...at least your face does."

The fox folded his arms and scowled, **"No, _no_ I do _not_."**

Naruto had made it further into the library now, though he was still arguing with the fox under his breath, "Hey, at least my suggestions were better than 'Tsudzurao', I mean, talk about boring!"

" **It was descriptive and accurately accounted for my attributes!** " The fox said in his defense, taking further offense to the boy's remarks.

Naruto shook his head, "whatever, your names stink. What are we looking for in here anyway? The quicker I can get out of here the better, I hate books and books hate me."

The fox growled, but decided the task at hand was infinitely more important than arguing with a six-year-old, he also chastised himself for _arguing with a six year old_. " **we're looking for anything on mythological creatures. I'm obviously not a regular animal, so there's no point looking up documents on** _ **natural**_ **creatures.** "

Naruto cocked his head to the side, "Mytho-what now?"

The fox groaned and dragged his hand over his face, " **Magical creatures? Like in those comic books you read?** " he added with an annoyed tone.

Naruto's face lit up and he exclaimed, "Oh yeah, I know what those are!" he then went off to look in the "fiction" section of the library.

After several minutes of searching, Naruto pulled out a book with some fancy title he didn't understand, but the cover had the picture of a plethora of magical creatures on it that he recognized from the comics he liked to read (the only time he _ever_ liked to read anything at all), so it seemed like the right place to start. "OK! I can do this, just gotta…read…this gigantic book." His demeanor soured and he reluctantly cracked open the book. "Well, at least it has pictures, this'll make it easier." The blonde moved over to a table and set the book down, doing his best to focus on the book despite his mind actively trying to find anything and everything to distract itself with.

" **R** **emember, you don't have to read the whole book, just anything that seems like it could give us an idea of what I am."** The Fox offered as a suggestion.

Naruto nodded, "I knowwww," he dragged the end of the word in a whiny manner, which the fox chastised him for.

" **Look, brat, I don't like this situation any more than you do.** "

Naruto muttered something under his breath about the fox not being the one having to sit through a boring old book. The blonde sat there and flipped through page after page of magical and mythological creatures. ' _Some of these are kinda cool…_ '

Eventually something caught Naruto's eye, "huh? Oh, hey, Wry-Fox, check this out." The blonde pointed out a picture and several passages. The title read "Kitsune" and one of the pictures depicted a beautiful woman with fox-like features and a cluster of fox tails trailing behind her. The picture next to it showed a picture depicting a multi tailed fox creature. Though the fox in the picture looked nothing like the fox Naruto currently was tied to in his mind, the resemblance was close enough, at least to Naruto.

The blond sat and read through the passages on the Kitsune, the fox read with him, helping him when a new word tripped him up.

The duo eventually finished reading, and the fox was the first to speak, " **I can** _ **kind of**_ **see a resemblance, but I don't think I'm the same creature depicted in this book…** "

Naruto, of course, was convinced enough, "Nah, you're totally a Kitsune! See? Its right here in the book, and it totally makes sense!"

The fox decided not to argue the point, after all, Naruto was a _six year old_ , a fact that the fox constantly had to remind itself of every time it spoke with the boy. " **Well, so according to our new information, I may be in some sort of spiritual prison, and the seal theory is confirmed, there's no way we're breaking me out of this prison any time soon. I have a better grasp on what I am, and things are starting to make more sense at the very least.** "

Naruto looked at the picture of the woman for a few moments, "Hey, Wry-Fox?"

The fox dragged a hand over its face and groaned out the phrase, " _ **Stoooop**_ **calling me that!** "

"Why can't you look like her?" the boy stated while pointing to the image of the Kitsune woman. The fox was dumbfounded, he could find the words to speak. "It'd be so much easier to talk to you face to face if you were pretty like she is."

There was silence for a few moments as the fox desperately composed himself. The fox had decided that he was a male; given the fact that he had nothing to physically determine such a thing, his only frame of reference regarding something like his gender was Naruto. He didn't quite understand why it bothered him so much, only that it did, and that he felt the need to chastise the boy for it. " **Naruto?** ", the fox asked in a deceptively kind tone.

"Yeah?"

" **I'm fairly _certain_ I can't look like _her_ , because I'm a _boy_** **!** **or did you _forget_ that little detail?**" There was a bit of venom in each phrase as the Fox said that.

The blondes face fell forward onto the desk, a drawn out sound of disappointment left his mouth as he sit there with his forehead firmly planted onto the wooden desk.

The fox, flustered by the implications despite not entirely understanding why, brushed it off and tried to hide his annoyance and discomfort and the awkwardness of it all, " **Hmph! As if you didn't have enough difficulty paying attention to me as it is…the last thing you need is perverted thoughts distracting you. Besides, you're six, you shouldn't even be concerned with such things!** "

Naruto tilted his head at the accusation, "What? I was just talking about you not having to be a giant, scary fox monster…what are _you_ talking about?"

The thought ' _six years old_ ' flashed through the fox's mind again, " **err…nevermind. Forget I said anything.** "

"No, really, what the heck were you talking about?" Naruto further questioned.

The fox thought quickly, not liking where this was going, " **I said it wasn't important, so** _ **drop it**_ **!** "

"wha- but I-"

The fox then broke communication and sat there staring at the flooded floor of his cage for a good few minutes. The conversation very nearly went down a path of dialogue he did not feel comfortable having with a six year old. He had a very bothered expression on his face that gradually went away as he wiped his brow in relief, letting out a deep exhale as he did so. ' ** _Wow that became awkward very quickly, I keep forgetting that the brat is only six..._** '

Naruto scratched his head in confusion, "what was _that_ all about?" but he shrugged and went about reading on kitsunes, going and getting another suitable book from nearby and skimming through it. He hated being in the library, but at least he didn't have to be stuck going through a ton of books aimlessly, he had the creature nailed down, all he had to do was skim through these dumb books and find that one specific creature. This became even easier when the fox helped him learn to use the "table of contents".

* * *

By the time the fox told him " **That should be enough information, you can go now, brat.** ", Naruto had amassed a rather large pile of books on the table. He let out a huge sigh of relief and wasted no time hopping up and away from the chair and desk.

The fox shook his head, **_'I at least have a general idea of what I am now. Assuming Naruto was right, or at least, partially right. I'm not simply busting out of this prison at any rate. I'm sealed in here by some sort of supernatural means, and the only way I can get out of here is to learn how to remove said supernatural seals.'_** The fox scratched his chin, deep in thought, **_'If I am a kitsune, then I have a baseline for potential abilities at my disposal. I can start experimenting using the information in the books as a reference. This will probably take some time, assuming it's not muscle memory related and I have to re-learn everything from scratch. It's not like I have anything else to do, besides chat with the brat…which I'm not doing anytime soon anyway, last thing I need is him bringing that up while its still fresh in his mind…'_** The fox imagined Naruto badgering him over and over again, seeing if he could achieve a form like what was depicted in the first book. He shuddered at the thought, having no means to force Naruto to leave should he decide to visit him in this prison of his own accord, ' _ **why did it have to have questionable pictures…** '_

After several minutes, the fox eyed his reflection, then a thought wormed its way into his mind. He mulled over what the boy had said earlier, **' _Hmm…I wonder…_** ' his mind wandered, questioning the concept of what made him think of himself as male, trying to determine physical features that could allude to his identity as a male. He felt comfortable stating that he was male, something in his mind _told him_ he was a male, and it made sense given his masculine voice and his physical build.

Nevertheless, he experimented with forming an appearance in his mind, and he eventually found himself imagining what he would look like if he were a female kitsune out of curiosity. He couldn't help but have a stupid grin creep across his face as the image solidified itself in his mind, ' ** _I think I'd look quite nice as a female, actually_.'** Though he shook off such thoughts as irrelevant to his situation; he'd have plenty of time to worry about such trivial and petty things in the future.

Meanwhile, back in the library, Naruto had put the book back where he found it (at least where he thought he remembered pulling it from) and was attempting to sneak out the Library the same way he came in. Unfortunately for him, the individual that had been at the reception desk previously had clocked out, and the grumpy old librarian had taken his place. ' _oh no..._ ' the blonde's mind was racing, looking for options on how to escape the current situation. It never occurred to the boy that no one had actually seen Naruto executing his infamous library prank, so he had no way of proving it was him. That didn't exactly change anything, as the grouchy old man still didn't much care for the blond due to his reputation. It came as no surprise when Naruto was instantly spotted by the eagle eyed old man.

The thick rimmed glasses and signature scowl were as easily identifiable as his voice when he leapt up from his desk and said in a commanding voice, " _Uzumaki_!" Naruto froze on the spot, _'ohhh, nooooo…'_ , it wasn't that the boy was scared of the librarian, so much as he _despised_ the habit the librarian had of giving him boring, drawn out lectures whenever possible.

"How in the realms did you manage to sneak in here without my knowing?" He marched over to the blonde and stood before him, raising an eyebrow and folding his arms expectantly, "This library is a place for learning, not some downtrodden park a prankster like you can go around plotting and scheming in!"

Naruto's mind raced furiously, the old librarian was beginning one of his notorious lectures that he always had ready for boy's mind grasped at any possible means of getting out of this situation, he could see the exit not too far behind the old geezer. If he could just distract the man long enough, he could make a break for it and be out of there. An idea popping into his head, Naruto reached into his pocket and then drew it out and threw the contents at the librarian in a swift, fluid motion.

" _Poketto Suna No Jutsu_!" he shouted as the spray of pocket lint, dirt and sand flew out in a tiny cloud at the librarian's face, momentarily obscuring the old man's vision and forcing him to recoil and sputter at the debris.

The old man yanked off his glasses and quickly wiped the dirt and dust from them, and brushed the rest of the pocket sand and lint off of his face. By the time the old man had cleared the dirt and dust from his person and had restored his vision, the blonde was long gone. "Bah, annoying little wretch. That wasn't even a proper jutsu!"

The librarian returned to his desk, "how odd though, I've heard of the brat's pranking reputation… but I was honestly expecting something a little more than just throwing pocket sand at-" it was at that moment that the librarian noticed across the way, that several of the table chairs had been taken and neatly stacked and balanced to form a bridge between two of the bookshelves in the fiction section. His eyes and mouth went wide as he took in the spectacle, leaving him to merely utter, "W-wha-, when did he- I…. _HOW_?"

* * *

After making sure that he hadn't been followed, the blond strolled up to Ramen Ichiraku, pulling out his frog wallet. There were a few other patrons at the Ramen stand at the moment, so Naruto took a seat at the far end of the bar, keeping out of their way and avoiding eye contact. He quietly placed some Ryo onto the counter and Ayame nodded in response. Within a few minutes, a piping hot bowl of pork ramen was placed in front of the blonde, which he happily devoured after giving a smile and a nod of thanks to Ayame.

Meanwhile, the fox was wracking his brain, trying to discover any abilities he might be able to call upon, thinking back to the reading material on Kitsunes. After several long periods of straining his mind and body, looking for any kind of response, or any hint of what to look for, he sighed and plopped onto the floor. " **Nothing, and I bet it has to do with this damned seal. It'd be just my luck that this thing would be nullifying my powers or something.** " He sat back up and closed his eyes, thinking deeply, though taking care to avoid trying to remember anything from his past, as he was not eager to relive the headaches from his first days in this wretched prison.

The fox cleared his mind, deciding for a different approach, " **Clearly its nothing physical….so perhaps…** " he focused and concentrated, keeping his mind clear and reaching out for any semblance of direction. His tails fluttered and whisked about, he felt….something, an energy of some sort. He couldn't put his finger on it, but it was familiar to him. The fox continued to focus and keep his mind cleared, following this feeling, this…energy, wherever it would lead him. Eventually, he opened his eyes, after feeling confident in this new sensation he felt.

A glowing red substance was flowing around the fox, almost like fire or smoke, maybe a mix of both. " **What…** _ **is**_ **this?** " he asked aloud, taking in the mysterious substance's appearance and feeling. It rippled with power as it flowed over his body, it gave the fox a sense of might, ferocity, it made him feel unstoppable, despite not understanding why or how. An alarming revelation was how this energy also seemed to bring out feelings of anger and hatred, and it actively _fed_ off of those emotions in a moderately vicious cycle. " **This, it doesn't make any sense, the book never mentioned anything about this!** " In a moment of sudden dread, the fox panicked and dissipated the energy as best he could. He looked down at his reflection, ears drooping back in uncertainty, " **What the** _ **hell**_ **am I?** "

* * *

 _ **(Author's Note)**_

Another fresh chapter!

I decided to keep this one short, as I stated above, because I had a lot more happening in this chapter than I did in the previous two. Keep things short and sweet, at least in this one. Can't always put out 7k words for every chapter now can I?

I'm going to keep things moving at a decent pace between the interesting parts of the story, doing minor time skips to get to the points I want in the chapters, but offering exposition and flashbacks and a manner of in dialogue hints to help the readers fill in the blanks (as is the case for Naruto's discussions with the kyuubi and how the fox managed to figure out how they could talk back and forth as they do in this chapter. Also the bickering back and forth between Naruto and the fox in the library about the name.)

Naruto, I'm diving a little more into his backstory in this fiction for this chapter, alluding to how he was prior by dropping hints, giving tidbits of exposition, just enough for the reader to be able to fill in the blanks with their imagination (hopefully). Naruto knows how to pick locks and pockets, but I tried to convey how much he doesn't enjoy doing it (unless pranks are involved) The orphan's stipend he supposedly receives in canon simply wouldn't be enough for a kid like him to be able to survive, given how the shopkeepers either drive him away, or they overcharge him for their products and services. It occasionally gets to a point where Naruto feels he has no choice but to take the money he needs, because he has basic needs that he can't meet with the money he has available (he could though, if the shopkeepers didn't charge him unfairly) That, and the fact that he's saving up for the Ninja Academy. Naruto doesn't like it one bit, but its a thing he occasionally _has_ to do. Also, I decided to give Naruto his verbal tic from the japanese version of the anime, but I'm keeping it to be when he's emotionally distraught or excited, similarly to the lore for his mother, instead of just slapping it in there whenever just to make his dialogue "unique".

Kyuubi, I came to several decisions regarding the Kyuubi's chakra, this will be expanded upon in later chapters. I offered emphasis on how the Kyuubi is annoyed by Naruto's shenanigans, but also takes amusement in annoying naruto right back. I also want to point out that, while it seems rushed to have this communication thing fleshing out already, remember that the Kyuubi is stuck in that cage with literally _nothing else to do_. So he has _plenty_ of time to focus on whatever's on his mind at the moment, like, establishing a reliable connection and active means of communication with Naruto. Also, I didn't want to have to continuously write in Naruto running back and forth to the mind prison and reality, because that was a pain in the ass to even try and write for from the get-go and I wanted an excuse to not have to do it. Don't judge me. Hey though, that doesn't mean Naruto won't go to the fox's prison anymore, it just means I have an easier way for them to talk to each other now!

Additionally, I'm not sure if I portrayed this well enough, but the kitsune depicted in the mythology books Naruto reads is not the same kind of Kitsune that the Kyuubi is (for obvious reasons). Naruto thinks they're the same, but the reality is that they're still books of Mythology, the kyuubi may technically be a kitsune, but the creatures depicted within the books aren't "real" and have very little facts behind them, as is the case with real world mythology, though every myth has some truth to it. Naruto thinks the fox is a kitsune like in the book, the kyuubi doesn't know WHAT he is at this point, but is using the kitsune depiction as a baseline to build off of and give him some sense of direction.

In regards to Japanese terms, I decided to (after brushing up on japanese suffixes and terms) occasionally slide one in depending on the situation. I'm not going to make a habit of announcing Jutsu's in japanese either, except for dramatic effect every so often. I also plan to use some japanese language for humorous effect, such as in the case of "Pocket sand jutsu!"

I stated that this story was going to have some wackier moments, but was going to remain fairly grounded for the most part. Its going to be relatively lighthearted, but feature moments of darker themes and venture into them every so often. This chapter is a good example of what I meant by that. Its relatively lighthearted, but features goofy humor and lighthearted moments and feels, but also alludes to darker themes and gives moderate foreshadowing.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

as always, feel free to shoot me a PM with suggestions or questions. Or likewise do so in a review, but either way, I'll see you next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4: Hitting the books (Again)

**_(Pre-story AN)_**

This is a short one, but I had such a rush of inspiration that I wanted to get this one out as quickly as possible. Its short and sweet, lots going on, some feels, hurrying the plot along to the good stuff.

I was originally going to have this be a part of the previous chapter, but odd circumstances had this one wind up being its own chapter...so, whatevs, more content for you!

 ** _Edit:_** _Added in some needed polish, added some extra fluff to flesh things out a little bit. edited the paragraph format for easier reading and keeping track of character dialogue._

* * *

 _His tails fluttered and whisked about, he felt….something, an energy of some sort. He couldn't put his finger on it, but it was familiar to him. The fox continued to focus and keep his mind cleared, following this feeling, this…energy, wherever it would lead him. Eventually, he opened his eyes, after feeling confident in this new sensation he felt. A glowing red substance was flowing around the fox, almost like fire or smoke, maybe a mix of both. "_ _ **What…is this?**_ _" he asked aloud, taking in the mysterious substance's appearance and feeling. It rippled with power as it flowed over his body, it gave the fox a sense of might, ferocity, it made him feel unstoppable, despite not understanding why or how. An alarming revelation was how this energy also seemed to bring out feelings of anger and hatred, and it fed off of them. "_ _ **This, it doesn't make any sense, the book never mentioned anything about this!**_ _" In a moment of sudden dread, the fox panicked and dissipated the energy as best he could. He looked down at his reflection, ears drooping back in fear, "_ _ **What the hell am I?**_ _"_

* * *

In the two days that followed, Naruto made additional trips to the library upon the Fox's "request". He searched up such _exciting_ topics as "magical energies" and "Aura" and various other terms that sounded cool at first, but when investigated he'd very quickly found himself bored to death with. Having tired of arguing with the blonde trying to get him to pay attention and read, the fox eventually simply said, " **Just look at the damn book so at least** _ **I**_ **can see it and read it myself.** "

Naruto was still bored out of his mind, but at least he didn't have to read the books anymore himself. He just had to have the books open and keep his eyes in their general direction so the fox could see. Other than that, he was free to let his mind wander, ' _meh…better than having to read._ '

The fox cursed to himself every time his research proved fruitless, for every single term he could think of. " **Dammit, what the hell am I missing? What else could it be? Useless,** _ **useless**_ **!** " he declared and slammed his tails into one of the walls.

Naruto was currently standing in front of the gate, surprising the fox, but doing nothing to improve his mood.

"What's wrong, wry-fox?" the blond asked with an innocent smile on his face.

The fox glared in return, " **…How did you do that? Did you seriously fall asleep in the library?** "

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish look on his face, "eheheh…I uh, I dunno, actually. I just kinda, thought about this place and…let my mind wander into it I guess?"

The fox raised his eyebrows, his mouth slightly ajar, " **That's…actually rather impressive, boy. Unintentional as it was, it's still progress; a discovery that may prove useful.** "

The boy had a wide grin on his face after hearing the fox praise him, even if it was shallow, praise is still praise, something Naruto rarely ever received, if at all.

After several minutes passed, Naruto sheepishly spoke up, "uhh….fox?"

" **Yes, Naruto?** "

"I…I don't know how to get back now."the boy finished with a light, nervous laugh.

The fox facepalmed with enough force to echo through the hallways. **"Well, that's unfortunate isn't it? Looks like you'll have to figure that out now."**

"Yeeeeah..." came the drawn out reply in uncertain tone.

After an hour of failed attempts to "wake himself up", Naruto groaned and plopped onto the wet floor in defeat.

The fox had since lain on the floor and relaxed with his head resting on his palm. Eventually he spoke up and offered lazily, " **You know, maybe you should try thinking about how you got here, and then go backwards from there?** "

Naruto blinked and looked up at the nine tailed kitsune, "You mean retracing my steps? Like the thing people say to do when you lose something important?" The fox nodded in confirmation, the blonde folded his arms and scratched his chin, "Huh, I could try…"

It took an additional half hour for Naruto to finally blink and find himself back in the library where he'd originally left off. He returned just as if he were waking up from his "dream visits" with the fox, only to find that no time had passed at all since he'd gone into the Kitsune's prison. 'What the heck? B-but, I was in there for at least two hours!' the boy said to himself in confusion.

He glanced around the library, confused at first. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw the old geezer librarian standing next to him and glancing over his shoulder.

"I say, _Uzumaki_ , I didn't take you for the type to actually open up a book, let alone _research_ anything!" Came the old man's suprisingly lighter tone than what Naruto had been expecting.

Naruto was speechless, mouth agape and eyes wide in equal parts confusion and fear, like a deer caught in a genjutsu.

"I most certainly didn't expect you to have interest in spiritual and supernatural energies! Quite _intriguing,_ if you don't mind me saying so myself. How ironic that Konoha's prankster has taken up such a niche hobby!" the old man said with a chuckle.

Naruto stammered and struggled to find words, "I-I-I…uh, I'm uh, just…getting ready for the ninja academy! Yeah, I h-have less than two years till I'm old enough to sign up!" he managed to blurt out between nervous and idiotic laughs.

The old man simply blinked at the boy and….smiled? "You silly boy, they don't teach any of these fantasy things in the academy curriculum. Mythology and the supernatural are fun topics to enlighten oneself with, but..." He then pointed off to a section in the "Non-fiction" part of the library, "If you're preparing for the Academy, you'd be much better off looking into subjects over in that part of the library. We even have a starter guide in a convenient little pamphlet to give academy hopefuls a list of subjects to start with, as a matter of fact!"

Now Naruto was really confused; not only was the old geezer _not_ chasing him off the property, but he was actually _helping_ him?

The boy was unable to speak for long enough to get the old man to raise an eyebrow and ask, "Everything alright, boy? I hope you aren't planning on pulling that pocket sand stunt you did the day before, that was quite rude."

Naruto shook his head and nervously managed to get out, "N-no, I just…I don't understand, why are you…helping me? I thought you hated me!"

The librarian merely waved off that notion, resuming his usual facial expression, "Hate you? Heavens, no, boy. I may have my reservations about you due to your…less than stellar reputation, but I never _hated_ you. As for why I'm helping you, well, while I admit I'm still quite cross with you over your modern art exhibit using our library chairs, my duties as a librarian come first!" He raised his hand in dignified fashion and extended his index finger as he continued. "What kind of librarian would I be if I turned away a young, inquisitive mind, eh? No matter how much of a pest they can be, _every_ child deserves the opportunity to learn!" The librarian added the last two sentences with an air of nobility and duty.

Naruto had a look on his face as if he'd woken up in an alternate reality, but nevertheless he followed the librarian as he guided him to the station that gave out Shinobi academy starting guide pamphlets.

The old man handed Naruto one of the pamphlets and said, "This will help you find everything you need to know to help prepare yourself for the academy. Let me know if you need any additional assistance." The librarian turned to go back to where he was originally working, but stopped briefly to look back and give a quick warning, "Oh, and before I forget, try _not_ to make modern art in the library again? I may not want to prevent a young mind from obtaining knowledge, but I won't hesitate to do what I need to protect this knowledge for everyone else in Konoha, are we clear?"

Naruto silently nodded his head in understanding.

The blonde eventually decided to make the best of the situation and check the guide out of curiosity. "Hey, Wry-Fox?"

" **Yes, annoying brat?** "

"Can you…do the reading for me for these ninja books?"

The fox laughed for a good minute before firmly stating, " **No, I'm not going to do all the reading** _ **for**_ **you. If you want to become a shinobi so badly, then you're going to have to put in some effort yourself.** "

Naruto's attitude soured significantly after hearing that. Despite how much he hated reading, he reluctantly fought through it and looked over the list. The academy starters guide had several titles that looked way out of his league, though he decided to give them a shot anyway. He picked a random title and found it placed neatly on one of the nearby bookshelves, pulling out the book and looking over the title. "Chakra theory for advanced learners...sounds good to me, I guess."

" **Don't you think it would be a better idea to start at, oh I dunno, the** _ **beginning**_ **of the list?** " Came the fox's voice with no lack of sarcasm and criticizing tone.

Naruto snorted, "Pff, I totally got this! Watch me, I'm gonna ace this, no problem!"

Naruto was lost almost immediately, both from a mix of inability to focus and his own lack of understanding. The boy would have been better off starting from the very first books on the list, but Naruto was too impatient and deemed it a good idea to hit the ground running with one of the titles further along the list. He wasn't expecting to "faceplant" the second he "hit the ground".

The fox chuckled and asked with a smug tone in his voice, " **So, how's it going there, _ace_?**"

Naruto, face down in the book, let out a grumble in response.

" **Sorry, didn't quite catch that…** ", the fox got out between amused snickering.

Naruto leaned up from the book and muttered, "I hate you…", to which the fox immediately responded with, " **I know, I hate you too.** "

An hour of fumbling later, Naruto gave up and admitted defeat. He took the Kitsune's advice and grabbed the first book on the list, "Understanding chakra, a beginners guide." This one, as patronizing as the title was, definitely seemed like a better fit for the boy.

Despite the change in difficulty, the blonde still struggled with the reading material. "uuughhh, I hate this! None of this makes any sense!" he angrily declared.

" **Calm down, you're learning a new concept, here, I'll** _ **help**_ **you… if you ask** _ **nicely**_ **.** " The Kitsune added the last part with a barely concealed smugness that the boy easily picked up on by now.

Naruto let his head drop onto the table with an audible whump. " _Fine_ , Wry-Fox…will you _please_ help me read these damn books?"

The fox laughed at Naruto's expense, enjoying humbling the boy and getting on his nerves every opportunity he got. It was only fair, given how often the boy had done it to _him_. To that end, it had almost become a game between the two, a competition to see how much one could annoy the other. The fox didn't care much for it, but it was at least moderately entertaining, and he became able to gain insight to how the boy thought, which was an added bonus...

* * *

It was a slow and arduous process trying to get Naruto to actually retain the knowledge that the fox had taken in from the books each day, but progress was still progress. Eventually, the fox managed to assist Naruto in at least becoming familiar with the beginner books, though he would still have difficulty recalling the information off the top of his head.

Nevertheless, the Fox kept to his word and assisted Naruto with reading through the many books on the list over the next several days. After each library visit, the two would retreat to the Kitsune's prison and go over what the contents of each new book entailed. Inadvertently, the fox also gained valuable knowledge of his own, particularly concerning chakra.

The fox sat there, watching the boy think long and hard about each day's "Lesson". It was clear that Naruto still had trouble grasping the concepts, and there was only so much information his mind could soak in before he started forgetting things. As much as it frustrated him to have to do so, the fox simply had to limit the amount of information he went over with Naruto per session. Sadly, even then, Naruto's problems with his attention span started interfering.

The fox freely admitted to himself that he wasn't the best teacher for Naruto, that had made itself painfully obvious within the first day. Its not even that the fox desired to teach the boy at all, but Naruto's success was directly tied with the Fox's chances at freedom from this accursed prison. So despite all the drawbacks and how brutally frustrating the attempts at teaching the boy were, the fox begrudgingly fought through it.

So that was the way things went for the weeks that followed. Naruto would go to the library, sit down with a collection of books from the academy prep guide, and the fox would read through them. Afterwards, Naruto would slip over to the Fox's prison and the two would sit as the fox struggled to teach Naruto what the books contained, and Naruto would likewise struggle to learn the lessons the fox gave him.

At the end of the month, Naruto had made a steady amount of progress, though not necessarily a large quantity of it. _**'Still,'**_ the fox reminded itself, _**'progress is progress'**_. His thoughts were interrupted when the boy looked up uncertainly at the great kitsune and asked nervously, "Rai… do you think I'm ready for the academy?"

The fox noted that near the end of this month-long process, the boy had gradually stopped calling him "wry-fox" as often and had instead started referring to him as "Rai". He didn't care what the boy chose to call him, but it felt refreshing hearing the boy use a genuine name for him without any obvious demeaning undertones.

The fox hesitated briefly, not wanting to give the boy an ego, but also not wanting him to be let down too harshly… _**'wait, what am I saying? I don't actually care about this brat! Why am I even concerning myself with such drabble?'**_

The kitsune shook his head at Naruto and spoke with an uncaring voice, " **Of _course_ not…you're nowhere near ready for the academy.**" He of course didn't know any of this from experience, but he made the assessment based on what the books had gone over, assuming that, since they were "academy prep", students _needed_ to know the outlined basics before attending, at the very least.

The kitsune's ears drooped involuntarily upon seeing the effects his brutally honest statement had on Naruto. The boy looked crushed, but the fox couldn't comprehend why. Since when did the boy give the fox's opinions such high regard?

The fox immediately chastised himself, but not because he'd made the boy sad, but rather, that he'd legitimately felt bad for doing it. **_'Am I seriously feeling bad over this little brat and his precious feelings? If the blonde idiot isn't ready for the academy, then he isn't ready! Its not my fault he can't handle the truth…'_** Despite many self criticisms over the implications, and despite warning himself numerous times throughout this entire endeavor to not get attached to the boy due to his role in all of this… the fox found himself genuinely feeling a pang of guilt over what he'd said, albeit a _small_ pang of guilt.

 ** _'Naruto has willingly helped me with all of this and more or less done everything I asked of him, without question, even though he was constantly annoying about it..'_** he pointed out in his mind, trying to justify why he felt this way without allowing himself to believe he was concerned for Naruto in the slightest. Perhaps he didn't care for the boy, but he _was_ a significant investment at this point, and he _did_ prove to be a "competent" ally in this journey to uncover the fox's past. Maybe, just this once, he'd offer a bit of encouragement, if at least to save face and free himself of this annoying guilt.

He sighed heavily and conceded that he couldn't simply leave the boy off on that note, and he begrudgingly spoke up right as the boy turned to leave. " **Naruto…wait…** "

The boy stopped and looked back, the gloomy look still in his eyes that reaffirmed the pang of guilt that the fox felt in his chest. "Y-yeah, Rai?"

The fox grumbled under his breath before speaking the words, " **What I meant to say is… You aren't ready for the academy,** _ **yet.**_ **You still have at least another year to prepare yourself before you enroll, right? That's plenty of time to prepare yourself.** "

Hearing this, the boy's expression showed noticeable improvement, "You think I can make it by then?"

The Kitsune took a deep breath before continuing, " **I do. I also need to point out, that that list** _ **is**_ **just a guide to get a head start in the academy, so it's not exactly** _ **required reading**_ **. I don't think you necessarily** _ **have**_ **to know everything on that list. I don't know for sure though.** " That made a smile start to creep onto Naruto's face. The fox actively berated himself for letting the boy influence him like this, but, at the same time, he couldn't help but admit he felt…better? The pang of guilt was gone at the very least.

Naruto nodded to the fox and grinned excitedly, "Don't you worry, Rai, I'll be ready when the day comes, you'll see!" Before the fox could even blink, the boy vanished back to reality, leaving the fox to contemplate what had just transpired.

The fox plopped onto the floor, gripping at his head and face. _' **You** **IDIOT** **, you're not supposed to grow attached to the brat, he's a** **TOOL** **, REMEMBER?!** '_ he gritted his teeth and hit the ground with his tails repeatedly in frustration. His mind went over the events leading up to this, trying to justify and reason and come up with any and all manner of excuses to allow him to claim he _did not_ care about the boy in the slightest. He only saw Naruto as a means to an end, period.

* * *

It was only after he'd come to his stubborn conclusions and borderline denial, and a long nap, that the realization hit him like a hammer over his head.

He thought long and hard over the next several hours only to come upon a very unsettling revelation. An explanation as to why his words had such an effect on Naruto, an explanation for why Naruto had called him "Rai" instead of "wry-fox", why Naruto continued to come back to the fox and repeatedly asked for his help, and how Naruto was always willing to help. These were all things that had troubled him from the start but he'd yet to figure out, or even _care about,_ until now. It was blatantly obvious in retrospect, once he put all the pieces together. Yes, of course, how could he have been so stupid and clueless before?

This was something that the fox hadn't so much as considered in all of this. The fox's ears drooped and he had an expression and feeling that he couldn't describe, and he refused to acknowledge.

It wasn't so much that the Fox had grown attached to Naruto (which he adamantly denied)…rather…

Naruto had become attached to _HIM…_

* * *

 ** _(Author's Notes)_**

Short chapter, I know, but it moves the plot along and serves as an excellent follow up for the last chapter and sets up for the next chapter. I suppose you could technically call this one an "inbetween", an extra bit of story I hadn't planned on doing, but decided to do anyway due to inspiration.

You can call it chapter 3.5, but I'll leave it as chapter 4 for the sake of convenience.

So! We're on the fast track to getting to the Konoha Shinobi academy, hopefully not _too_ fast. Don't worry though, I'm not just going to "timeskip" my way to the academy without significant dialogue explaining the important bits that happen in the meantime. I plan on further fleshing out the relationship between our beloved Blondie and his Kyuubi before we reach the academy.

Naruto, A lot more character details for Naruto, some hints to his more creative side and his talents for ingenuity starting to develop a little bit. More character development, albeit subtle character development.

Kyuubi, He's still adamant in his efforts to keep his distance from Naruto, not wanting the burden of getting attached to the blonde for when the day comes that he can finally escape his prison. He doesn't want to see Naruto as anything more than a tool, a means to an end, but he's finding that ever increasingly difficult to do the more time he spends with Naruto.

Will our determined fox manage to hold onto his resolve and prevent himself from becoming attached to the lovable blond idiot? Only time will tell.

In all seriousness though, given how the two are almost always in close proximity to one another, at least ONE of them is gonna start growing attached, right?

Besides, look from Naruto's perspective. The poor kid spent his entire life alone and ignored, and now suddenly he has someone he can _talk to,_ and who will _listen,_ and is _always there for him_ when he needs him. Sure, the fox is an asshole sometimes, but for Naruto, he's just happy to finally have someone in his life that he can relate to and look up to. Right?

anywho, I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

As always, feel free to shoot me a PM and let me know what you think or offer any suggestions. You can do the same in a review if you like.

Bye for now!


	5. Chapter 5: October (part one)

**_Pre-story AN_**

There's a few guest reviews and such that I'll briefly go over:

Bob19h: here's a thought. when narutos reading a book why not have him read one that explains chakra transference to people and then they try that making them gain a weak tailed beast synchronization that is not visible to people?

An interesting idea that I'll definitely keep in mind. As of right now though (without giving away spoilers), I'm going to keep any and all possible Kyuubi related powerups and abilities to a minimum at first, and they're probably only going to come about _after_ the duo learn that Rai is really the kyuubi and is sealed inside Naruto. Remember, Rai still thinks he's a mythological Kitsune (not the tailed beast that he really is), and he's kept in a prison _somewhere_ (possibly an alternate dimension) and has some bizarre mental connection with Naruto.

Neither of them know enough about what's really going on yet for this to be a thing

Guest: _What does kurama know about sealing and ninja but not chakra?_

That is an excellent question actually, and I have a reasonable explanation for it, so bear with me. Rai suffered from retrograde amnesia as a result of his being sealed, which means he's lost more or less all of his memories of events prior to being sealed. The way retrograde amnesia works is that a serious trauma causes the victim's mind to go Thppt, and often forget everything prior to the traumatic event. The way I have it set in the story is that Rai cannot recall events in his life, though he still has limited access to knowledge gained prior to the sealing.

The way it works for Rai as far as intelligence goes, is that his memories were basically put through a giant blender. Some things survived, some not so much, while others were destroyed completely. Imagine a giant puzzle, with each piece being a memory with your experiences and knowledge printed on them. Now imagine someone came along and flipped over all the puzzle pieces, took a whole bunch of them and cut bits off of them so they would be difficult to recognize, took some others and shredded them, and then took half of the total pieces and made off like a bandit with them.

Now you're here stuck with a puzzle that's missing half the pieces, and a large portion of the pieces left are so badly cut up and mangled that you can barely tell what they used to look like at all, while others still are shredded into near oblivion and would be nothing short of impossible to put back together again no matter how hard you tried, but you _might_ just be able to salvage what's left of the tattered shreds and use them to connect other pieces together. That's what Rai is going through right now.

But in all honesty? I probably goofed with the consistency and didn't elaborate properly at that moment in question regarding the Kyuubi's knowledge, but...hey, free lore!

 _ **EDIT:**_ ** _Formatted the chapter to better fit the later paragraph styles. Added in missing dialogue and thought formats. Significantly edited the sequence involving Cat and Fox to both read better and better fit their personalities as established later on on the story._**

* * *

 _It wasn't so much that the Fox had grown attached to Naruto (which he hadn't)…rather…_

 _Naruto had become attached to_ _ **HIM**_ _…_

* * *

(Within the Kitsune's prison)

" **Well…this complicates things a bit, doesn't it?** " Rai said aloud after almost an hour of mixed contemplation, half-assed excuses and denial.

" **The annoying brat isn't exactly making the whole, "** _ **don't get attached**_ **", thing easy for me, is he?** " he mused to himself with a chuckle. To think that the annoying blonde had softened the fox's resolve was blasphemous; the boy was a means to an end, and that was that.

The fox _did not_ care about the boy, any more than an investor would care about their investment. Naruto was only worth his usefulness to the fox and the amount of time Rai had invested into their endeavors. Period, end of story.

With a resigned huff, Rai turned away from that train of thought and instead focused on the lessons he'd gone over with Naruto. During their month long session, he'd picked up on some very useful information, most notably information concerning _Chakra_. He cleared his mind like he'd done before, reaching out to find that familiar sense of energy. Once again, the crimson smoke/fire began to flow and surround the fox's body.

He recalled everything he'd read in the books and scrolls on chakra theory, chakra control, and chakra's role in the lives of shinobi. " **So, this must be chakra then. It feels and acts in a manner very similar to what was depicted in those academy books…but I thought most forms of chakra were a shade of blue, not** _ **crimson**_ **. Odd** …"

Rai sat there, focusing and letting his chakra flow freely. He observed the chakra, familiarizing himself on how it behaved and acted, how it responded to his thoughts and other stimulus and briefly experimented with how to control it. He used every last bit of knowledge he'd gained from his reading, though ultimately it still fell upon him to learn how to utilize his chakra and figure things out through trial and error.

It seemed to behave in a predictable enough manner, though its habit of influencing his emotions in a negative manner frustrated and annoyed him (which only made things worse the longer he let his chakra flow). The negativity and emotional turmoil felt within the chakra dissipated almost immediately when he dispersed the chakra flow and stopped focusing, as if it had never been there in the first place. This confused Rai, and pushed him to take things further, albeit with an air of caution.

The observations and experimenting went on for quite some time, Rai continued to focus and call forth the chakra from within himself the same way he'd done prior. Eventually the fox tried using some of the basic hand seals he'd learned about while trying to teach Naruto according to everything he learned from the books, in addition to some residual knowledge he'd been fortunate enough to recover from his past life.

Unfortunately, with no knowledge of any jutsu on hand that he could try and produce with the signs (and the fact that the book on handsigns was a basic beginner's manual), they did little more than offer him an avenue to apply focus with his chakra, depending on the signs used, and give him a glimpse into shinobi and how they operated.

" **Most perplexing, I suppose I'll be able to learn more about this once Naruto attends that shinobi academy of his. Until then I'm not going to be able to utilize my chakra in any meaningful manner, as far as I can tell. Tis a shame, but there's not much more I can do on my own...** " He rolled his shoulders and decided to practice making the hand signs for the next couple of days, as well as becoming more comfortable with drawing out his chakra. He also put forth considerable effort in taming the negative emotions the chakra fought to infect his mind with, however, this would prove to be the most difficult aspect of his practice.

At the very least, Rai now had a better understanding of chakra and the building blocks of casting Ninjutsu. Additionally, he believed he had a better idea as to how the gate was locked, though he still had no idea how he would go about unlocking it, or where to even begin researching the mechanisms behind the lock. Come to think of it, nothing had really changed as far as the cage was concerned. He was still nowhere closer to unlocking that gate than he had been when he first woke up.

Nevertheless, he would be able to use this basic knowledge and add on to them with lessons that the academy would be teaching to Naruto. He would learn everything he could and apply it wherever possible, eventually he would figure out the next step to unlocking this gate, he just had to be patient.

* * *

(Unspecified Konoha river, afternoon)

Naruto sat at the edge of the river that flowed through Konoha, his face had a mildly gloomy expression to it. He was idly chucking rocks into the water every so often and trying to skip them across its surface. It wasn't that Naruto didn't have anything else to do, if anything, he had plenty of other things he could be doing at that moment.

The reason he was here, though, idly chucking rocks instead of literally anything else, was because he was desperately trying to get his mind off of the unfortunate fact that it had been six days since October had rolled around. The air was getting colder, the leaves were falling ever more frequently and in greater quantity as the forests fully took on the colors of autumn.

The blonde haired boy chucked one last rock into the river, it giving an anti-climactic plunk as it failed to skip and simply slipped under the surface of the water. He sighed and laid back, resting his head on his hands and he looked up at the sky. He lay there in the grass now and watched as the leaves with their shades of orange danced overhead on their gentle journey towards the ground.

Naruto typically didn't like just sitting around doing nothing, but this was at least a pleasant distraction for him to focus on and keep his mind off of the fact that it was only three more days until October 10th, the day of Naruto's Birthday.

Everyone came together and celebrated on October 10th, except they weren't celebrating Naruto's birthday. No, the villagers of Konoha were celebrating the day that the Fourth Hokage fought against the multi-tailed demon that had attacked the village and nearly destroyed it on that very day. The Yondaime managed to defeat the tailed demon, but had given his life in the process. He sacrificed himself in defending this village, and was honored as a hero by everyone in Konoha on the tenth of October (some even went further and carried on well into the days following).

Naruto had been told initially by Teuchi and had things further explained to him by the elderly librarian, that the event originally started as a simple gathering for the people of Konoha to mourn for the loss of the fourth Hokage. At the same time, it also allowed them the chance to rejoice for the victory against the demon appreciate the continuation of their village and its ensured safety.

Over time, as the people had moved on, the event gradually morphed into less of a ceremony and became more of a festival. The people would come together and celebrate the memory of the hero of Konoha, and celebrate his great victory over the demon that had so nearly destroyed Konohagakure. Recently, the festival became a village wide event. People would adorn garments typical of festival events and there would be music, games, food and drink; It all seemed like a lot of fun.

Unfortunately for Naruto, when he'd tried to attend the year prior, the villagers gave him such accusatory looks and said no small variety of unkind and unpleasant things about him that they probably thought he couldn't hear. That was only after he'd gotten lucky enough to sneak into the main area the event was taking place, as the event coordinators made it a point to prevent him from entering without making it obvious that this was what they were doing. Naruto didn't know any of these finer details himself of course, but he nonetheless felt unwelcome at best, and decided to simply watch the festivities from a distance.

Naruto could only assume that things would be the same this year.

The village had already started setting up the decorations for this year's event, and judging by how busy everyone seemed to be, this year's celebration of _Oiwai no Yondaime_ ( _Celebration of the Fourth)_ as some villagers called it, was going to be just as big as last year's. Naruto wasn't looking forward to it like everyone else was, but the one thing he _did_ look forward to on the tenth of October would be waiting for him at Ramen Ichiraku...

* * *

Naruto's eyes opened with a start; he never realized that he'd even fallen asleep. A quick glance around him confirmed that he'd napped for a good hour or two, as the presence of the evening sky overhead affirmed. He hopped to his feet and brushed himself off before taking a walk, not heading anywhere in particular. He idly kicked the occasional stone as he came to it, ignoring the occasional villager he came across as he wandered.

Eventually, the boy had found his way back home and decided to call it a night early. He propped himself up in his bed and opened the scroll that the elderly Librarian had loaned to him, citing that "there _is_ such a thing as trying to cram too much knowledge in at once." It was an illustrated guide to handling shuriken and proper throwing techniques, something simple he could go over during his " _rest period_ ".

Naruto wasn't quite sure what the old man meant by it all, but apparently his brain is a muscle too or something. He remembered the old man mentioning something about working out too much being unhealthy, and that just like using regular muscles, the mind needed to rest too.

' _I still don't know what any of that means...but whatever.'_ Naruto hadn't paid much attention after the librarian mentioned shuriken throwing…

So now he sat here on his bed, the scroll unrolled and laying in his lap. He went over the detailed illustrations and used his imagination to great effect in making sense of the pictures. Naruto could never think up something from scratch, but he was quite talented in adding things to a reference image. He imagined the shinobi in the drawings making the movements according to the arrows and directions, moving slowly with his own upper body to try and mimic what he was visualizing in his head.

"I _think_ this is how they're doing it? I need to get myself a shuriken so I can test these out sometime." He'd tried to acquire a shuriken earlier, only to be turned down due to, _"being too young to own a weapon",_ as the equipment vendors always told him.

After going over the scroll one last time, he got out of bed and grabbed some scrap paper that he'd normally used to doodle on. Naruto folded up the piece of paper to try and get it to take the shape of a shuriken, and had moderate success in making something that looked vaguely like one.

He grinned at his handiwork, satisfied with the results, and then took a stance like the one the scroll depicted. "Like this…and then…" he gave the paper shuriken a throw, and watched as it flailed through the air and failed to so much as go in the general direction Naruto had aimed for.

His determination unshaken, he grabbed the paper construct off the ground and gave it another go, achieving very little success despite repeated attempts to replicate what he'd seen in the books. Every time he threw it, the paper shuriken simply flopped around along its trajectory and flew off in a random direction. He sighed and decided that there was no way around it, he needed a real shuriken if he expected to get anywhere with this.

Naruto would figure all that out later, though, there was plenty of time for that. He decided to pay Rai a visit and see what the fox was up to, sliding back into bed and focusing on an image of the fox's prison just like he'd done before.

* * *

When Naruto opened his eyes, he felt the familiar coolness of the water that perpetually flooded the prison and looked up to see Rai surrounded by…chakra? It kinda looked like the pictures in that one scroll he'd seen for chakra control, but this was different. It was red, like, really red.

Rai's ears twitched, indicating he was aware of Naruto's presence. The big fox casually turned around as the red chakra faded, but not completely. An expectant look formed on Rai's face while he tilted his head to look at the boy. " **What is it, Naruto? I was in the middle of something…** ", Rai lazily asked with a tinge of annoyance after making eye contact with the blonde.

Naruto gave a light frown, "You've been in the middle of something all week! I just wanted to see what you were so busy with...and to chat, you know?"

The fox let out a resigned sigh and proceeded to lay in a comfortably lazy position on the floor (as comfortable as he could manage at least). He rested his cheek against his hand, bracing his arm with his elbow on the floor. He spoke in a tone that was a bit cold, " **I** _ **suppose**_ **I could take a break and indulge in your developmental and social needs…"** This only made Naruto tilt his head, unsure what some of the words meant and not knowing how to respond. Rai rolled his eyes and reiterated, " **You wanted to talk,** _ **fine**_ **, let's talk, brat.** "

Naruto was confused as to why Rai was acting this way, but nevertheless proceeded to tell the fox about how he'd been trying to learn about shuriken and kunai. Since he hadn't gotten nearly far enough in learning about chakra to start training with it (unlike the fox), he wanted something he could learn here and now, something that he could easily get into and not have to spend so much time reading about.

" **You do whatever it is you want to do, boy, you don't need** _ **my**_ **permission** **to start learning a new skill…** " The fox said in a tone that had come across a lot more irritated and condescending than he'd intended, making it visible that the conversation didn't interest him in the slightest in an effort to get Naruto to end the conversation so he could return to his chakra observations, though it failed to phase the boy even a little bit.

Naruto pressed on, ignoring the fox's expression and tone, "That's the thing, I can't get any real kunai or shuriken to practice with, none of the adults will let me have one because they say I'm too little to own a weapon… I was wondering if you could help me out, maybe give me some ideas of what to do?"

Rai couldn't help but laugh, pointing out the irony and mocking Naruto in one fell swoop, " **So, so, let me see if I'm understanding this correctly…the infamous prankster of Konoha, who's ingenuity in executing his elaborate and well planned out pranks could put battle hardened generals and tacticians to shame, cannot figure out how he could possibly acquire a simple shuriken because of some asinine rules? You don't have any problems managing to acquire** _ **ryo**_ **when you need it, despite the rules imposed for** _ **that**_ **, what makes this situation so different?** " Even as Naruto's face started to scrunch up, the fox continued to mock him.

"I'm not going to steal a shuriken, you dumb fox! You _know_ the reasons why I sometimes have to…take money from people who have more than I ever will… Are you gonna help me or not?", Naruto stated with an air of indignation at the thinly veiled jab at his lifestyle, folding his arms and giving Rai an angry look.

Naruto had told him this and explained it all before, he _only_ took ryo from the rich snobs, and it was _only_ when he absolutely needed it for things like food and other necessities. Rai knew this, and it upset Naruto to see him bring it up when he was just asking for help.

The fox found this all to be very amusing, the blonde was adamant in where he stood on the issue of stealing, hypocritical as the blonde was. Rai scratched his chin with a cheeky grin on his face and then spoke in a cold tone, " **I don't know what you expect me to do about your petty little problem. You're on your own this time, brat. Use that creative brain of yours and think of something. Or, grow a spine and get over your moral qualms about taking what you want, I could care less.** " The fox snorted before he concluded with, " **I'm in the middle of something far more important than anything you might be dealing with, so scram.** "

The boy looked down for a few moments, and the expression he had on his face when he looked back at the fox sent a feeling of guilt into him. The fox did his best to ignore it, but what the boy said next would add significant weight to it that he would be unable to ignore after the blonde left.

"I don't understand…why are you being such a jerk all of a sudden?", was what the boy said, but the fox didn't get the implications at the time of him saying it.

In the moment, though, Rai was uncaring and continued with the same harsh tone he'd had earlier, " **A jerk, am I? Maybe you shouldn't come barging in interrupting people with your pathetic issues.** "

Rai noted that the expression on the boy's face indicated that he was clearly hurt by everything the fox said, but he'd paid the boy no mind and shook his head. After a moment, he sat up and turned to resume his exploration of chakra. It was only now that he realized he never fully dissipated the crimson chakra prior to speaking with Naruto. He also realized, with a growing dread, that the chakra had been exerting its influence on the fox the whole time, making him act in a more negative and malicious manner than he would have under ordinary circumstances.

Unfortunately for the fox, Naruto had already left by the time the realizations hit him. He'd been unnecessarily critical, cold, and almost cruel towards the boy, and he hadn't even noticed it at the time. He may not like the boy, but he certainly didn't harbor any of the ill will towards him that this chakra had been subtly filling Rai's head with. " **…** _ **dammit**_ **…** " was the only thing the fox thought of to say as the gravity of the situation hit him and added immense weight to the guilt he'd felt earlier.

This situation, as it was, could be repaired with a little bit of time and effort. That wasn't such a big deal, it would simply entail Rai forcing himself to apologize to the kid and coming up with some fancy words to downplay his actions earlier, maybe come up with a solution to his shuriken situation as an olive branch to smooth things over, take things a step further and give an active role in it if need be, and that'd be the end of it.

What truly troubled the fox, however, were the scenarios playing out in his head about how much _worse_ the situation could have very easily been. The thoughts cropping up by the emotional influence the chakra had on him were becoming steadily more malicious in nature, some of them were unforgivably _cruel_. As much as Rai convinced himself he didn't care about the child, he also had to acknowledge that he had never felt any sense of malice towards the brat either. Had the conversation gone on for much longer and the negative influence of the crimson chakra had really taken hold, he shuddered to imagine how it would have affected Naruto.

He admitted that he enjoyed pushing the brat's buttons and getting a rise out of him, it was entertaining to see his reactions. The things that this red chakra convinced him of though? Those went too far, they were spiteful, hateful, irrationally negative in every aspect… the fox could feel himself somehow relating to them to an extent, but to have these thoughts aimed towards Naruto? It was irrational and illogical, Naruto was _annoying_ , yes, but Naruto has also been _helpful._ Rai at least had a modicum of gratitude towards the boy, enough so that he greatly disapproved of the kinds of things this chakra made him think about the child.

He could have very easily and inadvertently destroyed the fragile bond that the boy was beginning to form with him, as one sided as it was. If that had happened, Rai would be stuck here in this cage, back to square one and with a high probability that he wouldn't find anyone else any time soon and that Naruto would cease in his willingness to be helpful. All that time and effort, gone, all because of the fox's carelessness in handling this newfound energy of his and not being more aware of it's influence.

He chastised himself vigorously and replayed in his mind everything he'd said to the boy. He went over the conversation several times in his head, trying to identify any noticeable differences in his thought process to try and gauge how much the chakra affected him and any discernible points where it increased its influence. Rai would be prepared next time, partly out of pride and principle, partly out of concern for losing the only help he had available to him.

With a determined huff, Rai endeavored to be more cautious from now on. He would pay closer attention to his emotional state and make certain that the crimson chakra wasn't influencing him when he spoke with the boy, the fewer opportunities that this foreign influence had to meddle in his interactions with Naruto, the better. Naruto had his usefulness and had a great deal of potential for expanding that usefulness in the future. Rai was _not_ about to lose that, especially not from something he'd done inadvertently.

 ** _'First things first'_** , he thought to himself, **_'damage control. I need to make it up to the boy, and mend whatever damage I unintentionally caused.'_** He sighed, hating the fact that he'd have to pretend to care about the brat and play the part of a remorseful fox. Rai may have truthfully been remorseful for how he'd acted earlier, but nobody else had to know that, right?

* * *

(Naruto's apartment, Late morning)

Naruto woke the next morning after a restless sleep. He couldn't understand it, the fox wasn't exactly a "nice guy", but he never acted like such a huge _jerk_ before. He'd treated Naruto in a similar fashion to how some of the more unkind villagers did, and he couldn't wrap his mind around _why_.

Had he said something that upset Rai? Had he forgotten to do something the fox asked him to do? Naruto thought long and hard, but ultimately came up with nothing that could explain the fox's unusual behavior the night before. He decided he'd ask Teuchi about it later and see if the ramen chef had any useful insight, he may as well, since he'd be going there at around lunchtime anyway, same as always.

* * *

Teuchi was at least somewhat helpful in the matter, as it turned out.

The ramen chef had initially misunderstood what Naruto was trying to ask and came to the conclusion that the boy was talking about an imaginary friend of sorts. Naruto having an imaginary friend wasn't too much of a stretch for the Ramen chef to guess at, given how lonely the poor boy was.

"Your friend Rai sounds like something is deeply troubling him, maybe you should give him some space for a while and let him sort it out on his own?" Teuchi was multitasking between cleaning the day's lunch dishes and doing his best to give his advice to Naruto. "I've seen folks get upset over something completely unrelated to their friends and inadvertently take it out on them without even realizing it. Might be the case with Rai."

Naruto shrugged, it was as good an explanation as any. He slurped up the last of his lunch as Teuchi continued.

"I'm sorry I can't offer much more in advice, Naruto-kun, but I don't know a whole lot about, err, Kitsunes. Ramen is my specialty, not imaginary friend counseling, unfortunately. Maybe you could head over to one of the playgrounds or parks, see if any of the other children have imaginary friends of their own? Might give you a leg up towards making real world friends, don't you think? Having something you can relate to often helps people connect better."

The ramen chef meant well and was just trying to help the boy, but Naruto knew (and Teuchi to an extent also knew this) from experience that there wasn't any point of the boy trying to make friends with any of the other kids.

Every time he'd tried to reach out and form any sort of bond with the other children, either they would reject him out of the fear their parents instilled in them about "the demon child that held a terrible spirit within them", or their parents would directly intervene and whisk them away, scolding them all the while. Naruto would try again anyway on occasion, mostly due to his innate stubbornness, only to be met with the same results every time. He refused to give up in the hopes that eventually he'd get through and make a friend, but at this moment he simply didn't feel like giving it another try.

Naruto thanked the chef for his advice, and the meal, but he decided to pass on trying to socialize with the other kids, at least for now. He paid for his meal and headed off, waving to Teuchi before he rounded the corner.

* * *

(From a point of observation nearby, same time)

Two masked figures watched the blonde leave from their hidden positions, one having the mask of a cat, the other having the mask of a fox. They glanced to one another and proceeded to communicate via hand signs, " _So its confirmed, big orange bastard is stirring_ _?_ ", Cat signed with a tilt of her head.

Fox shook his head and replied with, " _Negative, can't confirm, not yet. Need to continue observing, make absolutely sure._ "

The two leapt from their hiding spot and swiftly moved to a new view point, one of the duo keeping their eyes on the blonde haired boy at all times.

Cat spoke in a volume lower than a whisper, "Should we inform the Sandaime anyway? Just in case?" and this time Fox gave a quick nod of his head in affirmation.

He kept his attention focused on Naruto and everything immediately around the boy answering in an equally quiet tone, "Might be for the best, yeah."

Cat gave a nod and turned as if to leave, but glanced back and whispered, "Wait, who's turn is it this time to be messenger?"

Fox glared at his partner and gave a gesture as if saying " _R_ _eally_ _?_ "

Cat sheepishly held her hands up in a defensive gesture before turning back and swiftly took off. She leapt across the rooftops at such a speed that any ordinary citizen would never see them.

Fox remained, keeping his gaze affixed on the blonde haired boy and maneuvering as needed to always keep him in his sight.

* * *

(The Hokage's Office, minutes later)

Cat entered into the Hokage's office through the concealed entrance reserved for ANBU, silent and without a single soul witnessing her.

The Sandaime was seated at his desk and shuffling through a small stack of paperwork when Cat stood before him. She bowed in respect to the leader of Konoha and waited to be addressed, though she didn't have to wait more than a few seconds before she heard him speak.

"Report." He stated in a neutral tone, not looking up from his paperwork for the time being, instead choosing to multitask.

The mask that Cat wore distorted her voice as she spoke, "We have reason to believe that Naruto has made contact with the kyuubi no-" though Cat hadn't the time to finish.

The Sandaime immediately looked directly at Cat with a deeply disturbed expression and said, "How certain are you of this?"

Before cat continued, the Hokage held a hand up while his other hand moved to the corner of his desk, and Cat nodded in agreement. He pressed his hand to the corner and activated a seal, a moment later a multi stage barrier surrounded his office to prevent anyone outside from being able to see or hear anything inside the barrier. Once the privacy seal applied itself completely, he motioned for Cat to continue.

"Fox believes it is too soon to confirm one hundred percent, but the evidence is clear enough for us to have to acknowledge that, in all likelihood, Naruto Uzumaki has made contact with, and is actively speaking to, the _Kyuubi no Kitsune."_

Hearing this made the Sandaime's face pale. He slowly stood up from his desk, pipe in hand, and walked over to the window to gaze out upon Konohagakure. He brought the mouthpiece of the pipe to his lips and inhaled deeply as he took in the gravity of this situation.

The Sandaime, keeping his gaze upon the view of the village before him, soon spoke again. "For how long can you safely assume that this has been going on?", he asked, taking another puff from his pipe.

"The earliest we can confirm, based on when Naruto began showing signs he was actively speaking to the Kyuubi, is in mid to late august of this year. There is evidence that it may have contacted Naruto earlier, judging by the child's behavioral patterns over the month prior, but we have no way of confirming this for certain."

"I see…" the man finally said with an audible sigh. He dreaded the next question he had to ask, but he had to know, for the sake of the safety of Konohagakure. He took another puff from his pipe, and then took a deep breath before finally asking, "Do you have reason to believe that the beast is manipulating Naruto? Is there _any_ implication that Naruto is under the Kyuubi's influence at all?"

Cat hesitated at first, "Its…complicated, lord third."

The Sandaime turned his head to look at Cat, a hopeful, yet cautious expression on his face, "How so?"

"Fox is under the impression that Naruto is still very much himself, as of this moment. There is no verifiable evidence that the beast is _manipulating_ the child. However, we can confirm that the beast is having some manner of influence on the boy, though it's been largely non-malevolent as far as we can tell."

The elderly hokage scratched his chin, thinking this information over with his brow furrowed. He emptied the smoldering remains within the pipe into a wastebin next to his desk, then took out another batch of ground tobacco and gingerly set it into his pipe and lit it. The Sandaime lightly smacked his lips against the mouthpiece of the pipe, letting out little tufts of smoke in the process, before he spoke again. "Could you elaborate for me?"

* * *

(Konoha market, early afternoon)

Naruto eyed the weapon's vendor's storefront, taking it in and trying to apply himself like he normally would if he were trying to carry out one of his elaborate pranks. ' _I can do this, I just have to focus, imagine that I'm just pranking this guy by having him think one of his shuriken and kunai was stolen_!' Naruto's expression soured as the last line reminded him what he was really doing.

' _Stupid fox…I don't want to just take this guy's stuff…_ ' the blonde sighed and tried to take his mind off of it by focusing on all the awesome stuff he'd be able to do once he had his own shuriken and kunai. The fact that just owning a shuriken and kunai would make him that much cooler, and possibly win him the envy of some of the other kids…maybe even convince them to get to know him better and be friends! Well, if at least for the sake of being able to play with a _real_ ninja tool.

The boy gulped and made a plan in his head, working over the details as he would a prank. 'I just need a good distraction… I can sneak in behind a shopper, then hide until the shopkeeper is distracted by the customer…then I make my move. I pocket the kunai and the shuriken, then slip out before he can chase after me. If he spots me, I can just outrun him or hide, he looks like he couldn't catch me if his life depended on it!' He took some deep breaths, then hid in wait for his opportunity.

Eventually, his patience (no small feat) paid off and he managed to slip in behind a customer, hiding just out of sight of the shopkeeper. He meandered his way over to where a few shuriken and other ninja tools were on display, keeping his eyes peeled in case the shopkeeper noticed him.

He watched and waited, his breathing and heartrate increasing with the tension. He nearly broke his concealment and ruined this entire endeavor when the Kitsune suddenly decided now was the best time to speak to him and he'd had to suppress a startled yelp. " **Naruto, we need to talk…** "

In an angry whisper, Naruto bit back, "Shut up, wry-fox! I'm a little busy here!"

Rai resisted the urge to snap at the child, instead going for a gentler reply to avoid risking damaging his standing with Naruto any more than had already been done. " **Naruto, this is serious, it cannot wait.** "

Naruto sighed and continued to whisper, "Ok, ok! Fine! Just, hurry up." The boy kept his eyes glancing over to wait for the shopkeeper to have his attention drawn by the customer, and he spotted his opportunity before long. He swiftly went over to the display stands for the kunai and shuriken, reaching out to pocket them as he had learned to do with miscellaneous items before as part of his elaborate pranks.

" **I wanted to…apologize, for my behavior earlier…** ", the kitsune suddenly apologizing like this had caused Naruto to stop for a brief moment, nothing more than a second or two at most, but it was more than long enough with his hand extended for anyone who wasn't blind or oblivious to have taken notice.

He heard the definitive shout of outrage that snapped him back into the moment. He nabbed the kunai, missed the shuriken, and bolted for the door.

He'd barely taken more than two steps outside the doorway when he felt his legs fly forward from underneath him and one of his hands being yanked backward, the momentum making him go horizontal for a brief moment before gravity brought him crashing into the ground with a thud.

Naruto had been so focused on the shopkeeper that he'd completely missed the Chūnin walking up to the storefront. Said Chūnin now had firm hold of Naruto's arm and was looking down at him with a curious expression that hid his disapproval.

"Really, kid? You decided to just steal a kunai while I was standing right outside the store?" Naruto was reeling between shock and horror, not only had he been caught stealing, but he'd been caught stealing a _weapon_. The thought of what would happen if he'd gotten caught had never even crossed his mind. This was bad, _really_ bad!

He could only stammer and stutter as he tried to find the words to say, but couldn't think of any possible excuse that could get him out of this. Plus, this was a _Chūnin_ , an experienced ninja! That, and he'd been caught legitimately _stealing!_ Even if Naruto _could_ get free and make a run for it, there was no way he could outrun the law. He was done for, they'd probably expel him from the village, or worse!

The Chūnin confiscated the stolen Kunai and handed it back to the exceptionally cross shopkeeper, who thanked the Chūnin for his reaction time and successfully stopping the thief. A minor reward was offered to the Chunin as thanks, half of what the kunai was worth as payment. The Chūnin gave a humble response and returned his focus to Naruto, whom he still had a very good hold of. "Alright kid, do you have anything to say for yourself?", he demanded, still keeping the disapproval from showing, though Naruto could still feel it.

Even the villagers nearby were looking at him now, all of them giving scornful looks.

"I-I…I was just…I-I mean, I…" was all the terrified boy had managed to get out.

* * *

Unbeknownst to Naruto, Rai was kicking himself for his own stupidity and terrible timing. " **DAMMIT! I just made it** _ **WORSE**_ **! HOW did I manage to make things _WORSE?_** " he bit out with self vitriolic venom, following close behind with a very colorful selection of all manner of swear words and made up gibberish when the swears just didn't cut it, all directed at himself of course.

For the first time in a long while, he screamed and raged about in his cage, slamming his tails into the walls and ramming the gate repeatedly. He would go on in this maelstrom of tails and claws and fangs until he'd sustained enough self-inflicted injury and had expended enough energy that he was forced to stop.

* * *

Naruto was doing his level best to not break down and cry, the stress of the situation becoming too much for the six year old to handle.

The Chūnin felt a twinge of sympathy for the boy and leaned down to say, "Hey, look, kid… Why don't you just come clean and admit why you wanted that kunai so badly that you felt you had to steal it, huh? Is it cause you just couldn't wait for the academy? That's probably it, isn't it…just be honest, you can tell me."

As well intentioned as the Chūnin was, he wouldn't be able to go any further with his efforts.

An ANBU wearing a fox mask had appeared before the two of them, wasting no time in stepping forth and crouching in front of the petrified boy to meet him at eye level. The fox masked ANBU's voice was distorted as he spoke, "Naruto Uzumaki, the Hokage wishes to speak to you, immediately. Please come with me."

This pushed Naruto over the edge and he let the tears fall, his eyes wide with horror and mouth ajar. Now the Hokage himself had to speak with him? He really messed up this time! There was no way he was getting out of this, he was a goner for sure!

The Chūnin recoiled for a moment, "Whoa, wait a minute, all the kid did was steal a cheap kunai from a display stand, it can't be _that_ serious of a crime that the hokage himself has to step in…right?"

The Fox masked ANBU merely shook his head and stated, "That has no standing on why the Hokage wishes to speak with Naruto-san. Now, I will repeat myself only this once. Naruto Uzumaki, the Sandaime Hokage wishes to speak with you, _immediately_. I ask that you come with me, _now_."

The Chūnin released Naruto's arm at the request of the ANBU, "You better go with him, kid…"

Naruto dried his tears as best he could and struggled to tone down the borderline hysterics he'd come close to displaying as he stood up. At least the Hokage wasn't upset with him over his disastrous attempt at stealing the ninja tools like he'd initially panicked, that made him feel a little bit better… but…that still left an uncomfortable feeling in his gut. Just what _did_ the hokage want to see him for that was important enough that he'd have a live ANBU come to retrieve him?

it couldn't be anything _good,_ that was for sure...

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes**_

Hoo boy, this one was a bit of a doozie.

I rewrote the scene where Rai and Naruto have their verbal spat several times. The first version was way too angsty and depressing for my liking, ending in a manner that I believed would end up doing a lot more harm to the duo's relationship than I felt comfortable, given how fragile it still was. As I had it, it'd have shattered it completely at that point, at least that's what it realistically would have played out as. I depicted Rai as being unforgivably cruel, which just didn't feel right with me. The second rewrite of that scene still felt, off...it kinda got too sappy in some parts and veered off course in others. I wanted to portray that the Kyuubi's chakra still carried the negative influence, due to the chakra not having to worry about Rai's amnesia, Carrying the Kyuubi's hatred with it. I had to strike a blend between believably malicious, but not to the extent that it'd cause irrepairable damage to their relationship. Eventually I came up with something that felt like it fit more or less what I was trying to go for.

The crimson chakra still carries over all the nastyness that was the old Kyuubi, and its gonna be one hell of a hard time for Rai to tame that ball of malice and hatred.

Yes, I'm including a few minor OC's in the form of the unnamed Librarian and the Two masked ANBU. Don't worry, they're relatively minor roles, but will still occasionally pop up from time to time in the story. I wanted something flexible and malleable I could work with, and having an ANBU was an obvious choice. Unnamed by design and their features concealed, it was a perfect side character. At least in my opinion.

The elderly librarian (as of yet unnamed) An elderly old man who takes his duties as keeper of Konoha's knowledge very seriously, sometimes coming across as grumpy or obsessive. He wants nothing more than to see the knowledge contained within Konoha's library passed down to younger generations. That, and he wants to ensure that the youth who come seeking such knowledge of their own accord are nurtured and giving every opportunity to succeed. He served as the initial example of the fact that, "hey, not everyone in konoha is an irrational asshat who hates naruto for no good reason!"

The Fox Masked ANBU (AKA, Fox) a talented recon and observation specialist ANBU who was assigned to personally keep watch over Naruto and ensure he was safe at all times. He is also responsible for keeping an eye out for any and all signs of the Kyuubi's influence and to immediately report such signs to the Hokage. I'm considering having Fox be an as of yet unnamed Inuzuka, since their enhanced sense of smell and hearing would help him keep track of Naruto at all times, even if he didn't have direct line of sight. Yes, he wears a fox mask as an obvious reference to the fact that he's the watchdog for Naruto and the Kyuubi by proxy, because he was selected upon recruitment into ANBU to do so.

The Cat Masked ANBU (AKA, Cat) Fox's partner, more will be fleshed out concerning her and Fox later in the story

That's the two minor OC's and their descriptions. Feel free to submit names for the Librarian if you want, since I absolutely suck at naming things.

Naruto is struggling to improve himself, and he's also not looking forward to his upcoming birthday. Also, the poor kid just about sh*t a brick when he realized how badly he F***ed up in the last sequence there. I tried to keep Naruto believable and true to his six year old self here, but also blend in the effects that recent events would be having on him. I swear I'll get a better grip of his character once we reach the Academy arc. At any rate, its off to see the Sandaime for him.

Rai is experimenting with his chakra, still believing he's a mythological creature still and that his chakra functions like everyone else's. Unfortunately, he realizes that that really isn't the case far too late and nearly destroys his fragile relationship with the lovable blonde idiot. On top of that, he gets him into serious trouble. That kitsune is seriously kicking himself now, but this all will serve as a wake up call for him (hopefully), and maybe he'll start to treat Naruto better from now on?

I just realised I left this chapter on a cliffhangar...sorry about that. I hate cliffhangers myself.

Really enjoyed making this chapter, like, I _really_ had fun with this. I had the opportunity to flex my creative muscle a bit, and ho boy did I take it.

Hope you awesome readers enjoy this just as much as I enjoyed writing it

As always, feel free to shoot me a PM or review with your thoughts or ideas (or both) and I'll catch you next time!


	6. Chapter 6: October (part two)

**_Pre-story AN_**

Remember to send me a PM or write a review to let me know what you think of the story so far. Reader feedback is very helpful to me, and I greatly appreciate it. No pressure, just a suggestion.

Minor edit: Ok, so, minor issue I've noticed that's really irking me is there's something screwy going on when I upload and edit these documents to add in author's notes and the horizontal line thingies. I write these chapters in a separate Microsoft office word document, utilizing its spelling and grammar check to ensure good spelling and grammar as I write (because I tend to speed type). The problem I'm having, is that when I upload and edit the documents in fanfiction's document manager, I start seeing random grammar and spelling edits appear, usually in the form of a word changing from past tense to current tense, or words spelling being changed so it becomes a different word (usually by a one or two letter difference, nothing major, usually). I don't know what the heck is going on, but when I go back to the actual word document outside the fanfiction editor tool, the spelling and grammar errors I find simply aren't there, yet they're _here_. Whatever the case is, its seriously pissing me off. Does fanfiction's document editor have some wonky autocorrect system in place?

anyway, enjoy

 _ **EDIT:**_ ** _I changed the chapter paragraph format to better fit later chapters. Added in polish, de-cluttered scenes to make it easier to follow dialogue._**

* * *

" _Naruto Uzumaki, the Sandaime Hokage wishes to speak with you, immediately. I ask that you come with me, now." The Chūnin released Naruto's arm at the request of the ANBU, "You better go with him, kid…"_

 _Naruto dried his tears as best he could and stood up to go with the fox masked ANBU. At least the Hokage wasn't upset with him over his disastrous attempt at stealing the ninja tools, that made him feel a little bit better… but…that still left an uncomfortable feeling in his gut. Just what did the hokage want to see him for that was important enough that he'd have a live ANBU come to retrieve him?_

* * *

Naruto hadn't expected the ANBU to hoist him up onto his back, and it startled him when the ANBU took off faster than the boy had ever imagined anyone could go. Naruto clung to the Fox masked shinobi as best he could, though Fox had one arm reaching behind and bracing the boy to keep him from falling off. The child simply watched, awestruck at how _fast_ they were going. He could barely see a thing as the world around him was little more than a blur as it raced by.

It had taken them less than half a minute to arrive at the Hokage tower and then a few additional seconds to hop to the secret entrance. Naruto barely had enough time to blink before they were already inside the Sandaime's office, at least one of the side rooms of it, and the Fox masked ANBU had gently set him down onto his feet.

Naruto nervously proceeded at the insistence of the ANBU, taking a deep breath and gulping as he went through the side door into the main office.

Naruto had regularly visited the Hokage on several occasions, the old man had always been friendly and kind to him. He looked up to the Hokage, both for how strong everyone said he was, and because the Sandaime was one of the first few people to show him any real kindness.

Ordinarily, he'd have nothing to be afraid of and would speak rather casually with the leader of the village, but on this occasion, he had more than enough reason to be frightened and nervous.

"Ah, Naruto-kun, I'm so happy you could swing by on such short notice! Its been quite a while since we last saw each other, hasn't it?" The old Hokage greeted Naruto with the same warm smile and welcoming tone of voice as he always did, and this helped ease some of the nervousness in the boy's eyes.

Despite the Sandaime's efforts, Naruto still felt considerably nervous still, the reminders of what had happened earlier were still rolling around in his mind. He replied with an unconvincing smile paired with a painfully nervous laugh, "H-hello, Hokage-sama…" which caused the old man's face to sadden slightly, though he did his best to continue to try and ease the tension.

"Now, now, Naruto-kun, there's no need for you to be so formal. Sit, relax," he gestured to the empty seat that had been placed in front of his desk for this very situation, "if there's something on your mind that's bothering you, you can feel free to talk to me, nobody else has to know about it besides the people in this room. I promise."

Fox and Cat were standing on either side of the space just behind the Hokage, offering a nod of agreement each.

The sincerity in the Hokage's voice definitely helped calm the boy down significantly, he moved over to the empty seat and plopped down in it. Naruto fiddled with his hands for a moment, looking down at them as he thought about what he was going to say. "I…I tried to steal a shuriken and kunai…"

The old man had a mild look of disappointment on his face, but still retained his friendliness. "You tried to steal a weapon, Naruto-kun? Why?" the Sandaime asked in his unwavering expression of warmth and kindness.

Naruto hesitated for a moment, but then found himself asking in a low, shaky voice, "…am I going to be kicked out of the village?"

The Hokage's expression looked shocked at first, then rapidly switched to as comforting an expression as he could manage despite his concerned undertone, "No, heavens _no,_ Naruto-kun! Why on earth would you think that we were going to expel you from the village?"

The child looked confused at first, trying to find the words to explain what he'd done and how he thought he'd broken a serious rule, especially given how a chunin had stopped him and then he'd immediately been retrieved by an ANBU. Coincidences as they were, they all added up in the boy's mind and he'd convinced himself that he was in infinitely more trouble than he really was. As such, the boy muttered out a vague and confusing recollection of the events at the weapon's vendor.

The Hokage shot a glance at Fox, the ANBU returning a shake of his head and giving a hand sign response, " _Marketplace, mouse caught in the act, Chunin intercepted_ ", to which the Sandaime had an understanding expression

"Ahh, I see…" He let out a thoughtful hum as he turned to focus back on Naruto, the mildly sad smile returning to his face as he chuckled. "Naruto-kun, nobody has ever been expelled from this village for something as small as shoplifting, even if it was a weapon. We usually punish such a small crime with little more than a simple fine, or at worst, a day or two in public service so that the perpetrator can pay for what they stole with hard labor. However, I should point out that you _are_ just a child, and as such, you'll be let off a lot easier than if you were an adult and committed a crime."

He took a quick puff from his pipe and set it back down onto the desk before continuing, "Besides, even if you were an adult, expulsion from the village is reserved for very serious crimes...crimes that I won't recite any examples of due to your age. Rest assured, you are _not_ being expelled from this village."

A smile formed on the child's face, his demeanor having relaxed considerably at the news that he'd gotten so worked up for nothing. "Thanks, Hokage-jiji, I thought I was in deep trouble for a minute…when your bodyguard showed up, I thought you were super mad at me…"

The two shared a laugh for a brief moment before the Hokage returned to the situation at hand, the much more important situation that he'd summoned Naruto to address. He cleared his throat to get the boy's attention, pipe in his free hand, "Its ok, Naruto-kun, just so long as you refrain from doing such a thing ever again. Now, back to _official_ business..." His expression flashed a look of reluctance, then an expression that reflected the gravity of the situation regarding that closely kept secret that Naruto was completely unaware of, before the Hokage smiled again.

"I've recently found out that you have…a _unique_ , new friend? His name is...Rai, if I understand correctly?"

Naruto furrowed his brow and gave the Hokage a confused look, "Jiji, how do you know about Rai? I only ever told Teuchi about him…"

Fox glanced down at the Sandaime, the old man hesitated at first. Hiruzen considered telling Naruto of Fox's mission, how he'd been keeping tabs on him this whole time with hidden ANBU observers, but ultimately decided against it. Instead, he elected to fabricate a little white lie consisting of him being the Hokage, that knowing everything that goes on inside Konoha was his job. Naruto seemed to accept this explanation without question, and the boy's respect for the Hokage grew just a little bit more at the same time.

"Why don't you tell me a little bit about this friend of yours? What's Rai like, if you don't mind me asking?", the Sandaime eventually asked, taking a few puffs from his pipe and electing to keep it in his mouth for now as he awaited Naruto's explanation, silently praying in his head that the situation wasn't nearly as grave as he was imagining. It would have been one thing if the Tailed beast had made itself known to the boy later on in his life when he would be more mentally prepared for such an encounter, but this?

This was a whole different situation altogether, Naruto was only just about to turn seven next week, he hadn't even had the chance to join the academy yet. The poor boy's psyche was simply too fragile and still nowhere near developed enough to handle the oppressive influence of the tailed beast sealed within him, and the old man absolutely dreaded the thought of this poor child being manipulated by that malicious monster, or worse. The seal was _supposed_ to protect him from such a threat early on, but something must have gone wrong with it if that monster had already come in contact with the boy.

Naruto thought for a moment, thinking about his experiences with Rai, being reminded of their recent verbal spout, and remembering that Rai had come to apologize when Naruto had been in the middle of his doomed heist.

The old man softly spoke words of encouragement, "You have nothing to be afraid of Naruto, no one is going to be mad at you. Why don't you first tell us how you met Rai? That might be a good place to start, don't you think?" The Sandaime kept his friendly expression focused on Naruto, double checking that the privacy seal was in place as intended.

Eventually, Naruto took a deep breath and started talking. He began by going into detail about how he'd started hearing voices and shouting at night while he was trying to sleep, how he'd been unable to figure out where the voices were coming from. The voices that seemed to be calling for help, the screaming, the funhouse reject of a hallway he'd appear inside instead of dreaming, all of it.

The Hokage and the two ANBU listened with bated breath, the old man occasionally letting a little puff of smoke exit out the side of his mouth as he lightly smoked from his pipe.

"Eventually I got brave enough that I decided to follow the voices, I thought someone was hurt and needed help. After I walked for a little bit, I came to this huge gate, and there was a giant orange fox in it! He was big and scary and had all these tails, and he had these glowing red eyes and big teeth!" Naruto explained and used his hands to exaggerate as he went on, paying no mind to the expression given to him by the Hokage.

The old man could feel his heart sinking deeply into his chest, even more so as Naruto continued.

"I…got really scared at first, I thought Rai was a monster, and that he was gonna eat me… I ran away the first time we met, and a few times after that…"

"Was there anything odd about the gate? Did it look like it was damaged or broken?", the Sandaime asked, doing his level best to remain calm and collected despite the situation being more or less the worst he'd feared.

Naruto thought for a moment, trying to remember the gate, "I think I remember there was this big piece of paper stuck to the front of the gate and it had a symbol painted on it. Rai can't get out because of the paper thingy holding the gate shut, so he's stuck in the big cage...at least, I _think_ it's the paper thing keeping it shut. Rai said he tried opening it, but he can't get it to budge."

There was a bit of relief that washed over the adults upon hearing that the seal was at the very least still intact and doing its main job of keeping the beast locked away.

With a lightly trembling hand, the Hokage emptied his pipe of the spent tobacco and fished around in his drawer for more.

Naruto saw the man's hand shaking, "Are you ok, jiji? Are you getting sick?"

The Sandaime was quick to wave it off and urged the boy to continue, "nono, I'm fine, Naruto-kun. Please, tell us more about your friend, I'm interested to hear more about him. How have you two gotten along?"

Naruto nodded and continued while the old man struggled to light his pipe.

"Rai is…he's kinda grumpy sometimes, but he's not a bad guy, even though he looks pretty scary. He's usually nice to me, and he's really smart too! He's been telling me to go to the library and helping me get ready for the academy, even though I really hate books and can't read too well… I've been helping him out with some things, and we've been trying to figure out how to get that big gate unlocked."

The Sandaime froze on the spot, just as he'd struck the match. He had a look of horror at Naruto's mention of trying to help the tailed beast open the gate, and the lit wooden match fell from his hand.

The two ANBU had taken a very subtle combat pose, ready to strike at any second, though showing no sign of aggression to the untrained eye.

If the Kyuubi realized that it had been found out, whatever sort of plan it had, it could very well lash out through Naruto, given that the boy was so young and would likely stand no chance of resisting the tailed beast's chakra. Normally the seal would protect against such things, but it was already not functioning exactly as it should if the beast had already managed to come in contact with the boy…and if Naruto had inadvertently managed to assist the Kyuubi in weakening the seal in any way...

The Sandaime's heart was racing, not only was it just confirmed one hundred percent that Naruto had in fact met face-to-face with the Tailed beast within him, but now it had come to light that he was actively helping it to get free!

This was so much worse than the old man could have possibly imagined, Naruto had no idea how grave of a mistake he was making. He'd taken precautions and prepared for something like this, making sure that he had an emergency measure in place to ensure that, should the situation turn out to be worse than he thought, he would be ready to counter and stop the beast decisively. Under the current circumstances, it was safe to say that things couldn't possibly be much worse, short of the Beast possessing Naruto…

The Hokage went over his options in his head, the foreboding shadow of the demon Kyuubi looming over Naruto in the man's mind as he looked at the boy. It tore at his soul to think of what he feared he would have to do at this point…at the expense of this innocent child who'd been through so much already.

Naruto, the boy who hadn't even gotten the chance to live out the prime of his life, who looked up to the man as a surrogate grandfather of sorts…it crushed his heart to think that he may be forced to kill him now. All in order to stop the beast for good and prevent it from escaping, all for the sake of a village that hated the boy.

He strengthened his resolve, a hand stealthily ready at a hidden emergency seal he'd had prepared under his desk. When activated, the seal would form a swift and durable barrier and then annihilate whatever was held within...a quick and relatively painless death, but...

The destruction wrought by the Tailed beast's rage had nearly crippled Konoha irreparably. The Yondaime Hokage had given his life to defeat it, sealing the monster into Naruto, and now the beast was trying to free itself again by deceiving Naruto and pretending to be a friend that the boy could trust.

Given the unfortunate life Naruto had lived, that vile beast was easily taking advantage of the poor boy's loneliness and vulnerability. Hiruzen cursed in his thoughts at the cruelty of this situation, all the boy had been seeking was acceptance and kinship, things that the village had refused to give him… and that…that _monster_ had _pretended_ to play the part and give him exactly what he'd been searching for! His hand hovered, trembling, just above the emergency seal, the last resort that he'd put into place. He had to do this...he _had_ to do this for the sake of Konoha!

The Sandaime wanted to be certain that the village would be safe from the Tailed beast's wrath. He knew this was necessary, he knew that it was for the greater good, but…looking at Naruto, seeing the innocence in his eyes, even despite the looming shadow of the Kyuubi that he couldn't shake from his mind...

This was _Naruto_ sitting before him, the son of Minato, the fourth's legacy...

He hesitated.

He couldn't bring himself to condemn the boy without being absolutely sure that it was the only option available to him and he truly had no other choice. He _refused_ to do such a thing unless he was one hundred percent sure that it was the only available option.

Steeling himself for what he would have to do, should his hand be forced in the matter, he took a deep breath.

Hiruzen managed to ask the boy in as kind a tone as he could muster in the situation, "Naruto, if you don't mind me asking… What other sort of things were you helping your friend with? Has he ever had you research anything about something called _Fūinjutsu_ , by any chance? Has he ever talked about it at all?" he asked, the tension in the room strung so tight that one could cut it with a dull kunai.

This would be the determining factor: if the Beast had been researching Fūinjutsu, then it would be decided and he would have no choice, due to the uncertain condition of the seal. He wished that he'd had the time to properly check the seal and determine if it had been tampered with himself, he could have made a more informed decision in the matter, but as it stood… He had no idea how much time he'd have to work with, how much the beast had progressed, so he had to make a decision and a plan with the little time and resources he'd had available to him. The Sandaime prayed that the boy would at least be given this last glimmer of hope.

Naruto smiled, completely oblivious to what the Hokage and his ANBU were preparing to do, "Oh, we were trying to figure out what kind of creature Rai was. He couldn't remember his name or who he was when I first met him, and he couldn't remember how he got locked up in the cage either…so I've been taking trips to the library to see what we could find."

The boy thought for a brief moment before he spoke again, "As for…fuu..uh, _Fūin…jutsu_ , no, he never said anything about that. I don't even know what that word means. Why, what's _Fūinjutsu_?" Naruto hoped that the old man would be proud of him for taking the time to read at the library, utterly clueless as to how close he had come to being obliterated by the man he'd looked up to for as long as he could remember.

The Hokage and his ANBU all did a double take.

It was a good minute before the Sandaime could find the words to speak, stupefied by this completely unexpected turn of events. "I-I…beg your pardon, Naruto-kun? Could… could you repeat that, please?"

Naruto simply shrugged and repeated what he'd said, more or less.

"He, lost his memories? He can't remember _anything_ before he met you? Am I understanding you correctly?"

Naruto nodded his head in response, throwing all three adults into confusion and befuddlement, though they kept it hidden. The boy asked again, "Hokage-jiji, what's Fu.. _fuinjutsu_?", but the old man shook his head and casually played it off.

"That's nothing that you need to worry about, Naruto-kun. Err, how much _does_ Rai remember? Do you know?"

Naruto had to think about this question for a second, recollecting the conversations he had with Rai, "umm, he says he only remembers waking up in the cage, and bits and pieces of stuff, like with chakra and other things. He doesn't remember anything before waking up in the cage I found him in."

* * *

After what felt like an hour of terribly uncomfortable and befuddled silence, the Hokage slowly retracted his hand from the seal, keeping his eyes locked onto Naruto's.

"Would you be willing to tell us what you've learned so far…? About Rai, I mean.", he said, trying to go back to his usual smile, but ultimately failing. The old man had come within mere millimeters of _executing_ Naruto in a desperate bid to ensure that Konoha would be safe from the monster that had so nearly destroyed it almost seven years ago. He'd almost convinced himself that the beast had been manipulating the boy and attempting to use him to escape, almost one hundred percent. This wasn't exactly _different_ , from what he'd feared the beast was doing, technically… Still, his heart was heavy and he was treading cautiously, Naruto had thrown a wildcard of a variable and none of the three knew what to do with it at the moment.

"Yeah, sure! Oh, hey, maybe you can help too, jiji!" Naruto, without missing a beat, had pulled out a small, cheaply made scroll and laid it out onto the Hokage's desk. "I took notes, check it out.", the boy said with a gleeful tone of voice.

The Sandaime carefully unrolled the scroll and looked upon its contents. Naruto's handwriting was absolutely atrocious, but at least it was legible, to an extent. The two ANBU leaned in slightly to take a quick look themselves, though they still remained on guard.

' _From the looks of things, Naruto is convinced that the Tailed beast is a mythological Kitsune… The drawing is… cute, but I highly doubt that the beast would ever resemble that. Interdimensional mind portal…? What on earth? He…he hasn't got a clue, not in the slightest. There's nothing in here even remotely resembling Fūinjutsu, or any other indication that the Beast is anything other than what Naruto said he is... this is most perplexing..._ ' The old man took a deep breath of something akin to relief, and then moved to put out the lit match he'd dropped earlier before it could start a fire. He then lit a new match to light his pipe with, then took a long breath of the freshly lit tobacco through the antique pipe. He usually didn't smoke so much around Naruto, but given the exceptional circumstances, he cut himself a break just this once.

If this scroll and its abysmal handwriting were anything to go by, Naruto was telling the truth, but that didn't necessarily mean that the beast _wasn't_ trying to deceive him in an effort to remain under the radar and avoid giving anyone the opportunity to intervene. For Naruto's sake, he was willing to explore this avenue of thought just a little bit further. In the rare possibility that the kyuubi truly had lost its memories, this could very well be a much more salvageable and even _repairable_ situation than it had looked like at the start, and it certainly meant that the Sandaime wouldn't have to take any of the truly desperate measures he'd feared he would have to take earlier.

He silently prayed to the heavens that this was be the case, for Naruto's sake.

After skimming through the shoddily scribbled notes once more, the Sandaime was finally able to take up the warm smile from earlier as he addressed Naruto. "This certainly seems like quite the adventure you've gotten yourself into, Naruto-kun. I have a few things to say that I'd like for you to try very hard to remember for me… I'll tell these things to you and then I won't keep you any longer."

Naruto nodded, grinning as he took up the scroll and slipped it back into his pocket.

"First…I think you are absolutely right about your friend Rai…it sounds like he might indeed be a mythological kitsune like in the library books you read.", he told Naruto and played it up as best he could, the further away Naruto was from the truth, the better, and keeping him from that truth by swapping it with a believable fabrication felt like the best way to do it at this point.

"Kitsunes are tricky creatures though, Naruto-kun, so I hope you be careful when you talk with him. Don't do anything that you know to be against the rules, no matter how much he tries to convince you, ok?", the boy nodded listening carefully to the only man in Konoha he truly respected.

"Ok, Hokage-jiji!"

The Hokage continued, "Second, remember the rule we talked about (that you conveniently forget when it involves pranks), the one about locked doors? If you don't have the key to it, you aren't supposed to open it.", Naruto nodded to this, and the old man continued, "This also applies to gates, and especially, _cages_. I don't want you to _ever_ try to open Rai's cage under _any_ circumstances, am I clear?"

Naruto hesitantly nodded once more, but the Hokage leaned forward and looked at him with a deathly serious expression, "Do you see how serious I am, Naruto Uzumaki?"

The boy gulped, the Hokage only ever used his full name when things were _really_ serious, usually when he was in deep trouble.

He nodded quickly, and the Hokage finished with, "I need you to promise me, with all your soul, you will _never_ attempt to open, _or_ unlock, Rai's cage. No matter how much he begs and pleads, no matter how much he threatens or bargains…that cage must remain _sealed shut_ and _locked_. _NEVER_ , unlock it, and NEVER try to open it. Do you understand?"

Naruto gave his best attempt at a solemn expression and he nodded, "I… I promise, Hokage-jiji, _dattebayo_!" Holding his fist in front of his chest in a typical heroic pose fashion to try and add dramatic effect.

The old man offered a chuckle at the boy's enthusiasm at least. He was satisfied with Naruto's response, hoping that giving him such a stern talking to had imprinted the point into his brain. "Finally, Naruto…I'd like you to _not_ mention Rai to _anyone_ unless I myself give you permission, understood? Kitsunes are mysterious and sometimes dangerous creatures, and they frighten most folks," he held up his hand as Naruto tried to object, "Even if you and I know that Rai isn't a bad person, I need you to keep him a secret, can you do that for me, Naruto-kun?"

Again, the boy nodded, bringing an appreciative smile to the Sandaime's face once more.

"Well, then that about does it, Natuto-kun; you can head home now if you wish. I appreciate you coming by on short notice." The old man stood and nodded to the boy, Naruto hopped out of his chair and turned to head to the exit, but stopped halfway there, right after the Hokage had removed the privacy seal.

"Oh, um, I have a question, Hokage-jiji…" the boy said as he turned to face the Sandaime.

He raised his eyebrows to the boy, "hmm? And what might that be, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto looked down briefly, before lifting his eyes back up at the man and asking, "Why did you want to speak to me so badly about Rai? Everyone else thinks I've been talking to myself, and Teuchi thought Rai was just an imaginary friend when I told him about him…do you really believe Rai is real?"

The Hokage smiled and responded with a lighthearted, "Well that seems like a silly question; do _you_ believe he's real?"

Naruto nodded and the Hokage chuckled as he followed up, "Then that's all that matters, simple as that. As for why I called you up here, I just needed to check in with you and make sure you were faring well. You've been talking to yourself a lot lately, so much so and in such a way that we thought you were talking _to_ someone, someone you shouldn't be talking to. Though we now know you _were_ talking to someone, and it was your unique new friend, Rai. Nothing to worry about, of course, just a necessary precaution I had to take as Hokage. Run along now, Naruto-kun. I have urgent matters that require my attention."

The boy waved to the Sandaime and his ANBU, but only the Sandaime returned the wave.

When Naruto had left and was out of earshot, the man fell back into his chair and hunched forward, a hand reaching up to grip the collar of his robes while his whole body started to tremble.

"Hiruzen-sama!" Cat exclaimed as the two ANBU reached out to support their leader, fearing that he was suffering from a sudden health problem of some sort.

The Hokage waved them off, "I'm fine! I'm fine…thank you…", although he stayed there like that, the hand gripping his collar gripped now at his chest. ' _Kami preserve me…I very nearly murdered Minato's legacy…_ ' he took several deep breaths and worked to regain his composure, before taking up his pipe and adjusting his hat that had dislodged itself from his sudden movements. Now wasn't the time to feel sorry for himself or dabble in what could have been or what nearly was, right now his village needed to be safeguarded.

Hiruzen reached to the corner of his desk and activated the privacy seal before turning his head to the two ANBU.

"Fox"

"Yes, Hokage-sama-" the ANBU began, only to be interrupted as Hiruzen spoke again.

"I want round the clock surveillance of Naruto Uzumaki, you are to gather a team comprised of no less than four ANBU, observing and detailing Naruto's every action and behavioral patterns at _all times_. Anything and _everything_ may be considered relevant, I want it all recorded for referential purposes and for use by the intelligence and analysis teams as needed. This surveillance team will be at your full disposal. You are to also ensure that your team is ready to act upon any indication that the Tailed beast is attempting to escape or take control of Naruto or any other actions that may be perceived as hostile actions on the part of the tailed beast. In such an event, you are to subdue Naruto Uzumaki by any and all means deemed necessary and alert me immediately."

The Sandaime stood up from his chair once he'd fully regained his composure, a stony expression cemented on his face as he scoured over every last detail of the current situation and everything he had heard from Naruto. He had aborted the emergency measures and spared Naruto, but he still had plenty of contingency plans to fall back on in case that had been a mistake. He would not leave the safety of this village to chance, even as much as he wanted to believe that what Naruto had said was true.

The missions he was giving Fox and Cat happened to be one such contingency, and would offer him a manner of room to further assess and salvage the situation as best he could while also safeguarding the village. "Cat, you will assemble a first response team to immediately provide backup for Fox's team if they are unable to restrain Naruto and the Kyuubi on their own, you are authorized to use lethal takedowns as a last resort. The safety of this village is your top priority, I pray that such drastic measures won't be necessary." He huffed and set his pipe in his mouth.

"You have your missions, they begin the second that either of you or Naruto leaves this building and are considered indefinite until further notice. This is priority black, everything else is secondary. Dismissed."

The two ANBU nodded simultaneously and quickly replied with, "Hai, Hokage-Sama.", and then took off in a blur of motion.

Hiruzen let himself slump into his chair with an exhausted look on his face. He looked to the pictures he had on display, and turned his gaze to eye the picture he'd taken with Naruto, the one where he had let the boy wear his hat as a gesture of kindness on the boy's birthday. Naruto had looked so happy in that moment, and their bond had only strengthened in the days that followed.

He breathed deeply, letting out a plume of smoke when he exhaled, the pipe still sitting in his mouth. "Fate has been cruel to you, Naruto-kun…I pray that it has at least the decency to allow you this small mercy…" the Sandaime said to no one in particular.

He reached over to the communication seal he'd kept on the right hand side of his desk. Shortly after activation, a messenger came forth.

"Hai, Hokage-sama?"

"Send word to Shikaku Nara and Inoichi Yamanaka, tell them the special code phrase: _The beast stands at the gates_ , they will know what to do."

" _Hai_ , Hokage-sama!" The messenger saluted and swiftly left to deliver the message.

Hiruzen continued to sit slumped back in his office chair, gently spinning it to see out the window behind him. His gaze slowly wandered out into the distance with that same look of exhaustion never leaving his face. "I'm getting far too old for this…"

* * *

(Naruto's apartment)

After Naruto returned home a half hour later, he immediately hopped into bed and went through the motions to arrive back in front of the Kitsune's cage. Naruto was about to offer a cheerful greeting, but he immediately choked up and was shocked to see the fox laying in a battered heap on the floor of his cage. "R-Rai!? What…what the heck happened? Are you hurt?"

The Kitsune stirred, his ears twitching and focusing on Naruto's voice. He was surprised to find that the boy had come to see him after such a short amount of time had passed, he was also surprised to see that Naruto was so concerned for his safety, especially after recent events concerning his verbal spat with him and then getting him in trouble with that Chunin. " **How unfortunate…I wasn't expecting you back so soon…** "

The boy took a cautious step closer to the cage, "You're all beat up…are you ok, Rai?"

The big fox chuckled at the boy's further show of concern, emitting a pained grunt as he struggled to turn himself to look at Naruto. Rai was in terrible condition when Naruto had seen him at first, but his injuries were quickly healing themselves, and before long the Kitsune looked like his usual self. " **…I didn't get the opportunity to finish earlier…and now I have** _ **two**_ **apologies to make up to you.** ", the fox said with a tired smirk.

Naruto looked up at Rai, offering a fairly neutral, yet hopeful, expression as he waited for the big fox to continue.

The Kitsune took a deep breath and sighed heavily before he addressed the boy, " **Naruto…I must apologize for my behavior earlier. I was…troubled by something unrelated to you, you weren't the reason I was upset. I shouldn't have let myself take out my frustrations on you, it was cruel and unacceptable. I'm sorry for that, I won't let it happen again.** "

Naruto's expression radiated forgiveness, replying a moment later with, "You promise?"

Rai still had the tiredness to his look, " **I promise.** "

Much to his surprise, the boy simply grinned and gave a cheerful laugh, "Well, then I forgive you!"

The fox couldn't help but smile, partly due to toe relief he'd felt at the unexpected simplicity in obtaining the boy's forgiveness. Perhaps he hadn't done as much damage as he thought? Or, perhaps Naruto was far less fragile emotionally than the fox had assumed? There was a great deal that the fox admitted he still didn't know about Naruto, something he begrudgingly affirmed that he'd have to rectify in the coming month, if only to help make interacting with the boy easier.

Satisfied with the results of this first apology, Rai further swallowed his pride, composed his thoughts, and proceeded to apologize for indirectly causing Naruto to get caught and wind up in trouble, of which he observed similar results to the first apology. "I still don't have a shuriken, though…"

Seeing the opportunity, the fox jumped in with a kindhearted tone, " **That's okay, boy, I'll help you get one tomorrow. I have a plan that doesn't include having to shoplift.** ", he'd added the last part as a lighthearted joke.

Naruto's expression took on one of excitement and eagerness, "Really? I thought you wanted me to figure it out on my own?"

The kitsune gave a dismissive laugh, " **It's the least I can do to make it up to you for ruining your efforts earlier... and for getting you in trouble.** "

Naruto leapt and threw his fist into the air, " _Yat-ta_! With you helping me, I'll get my hands on a shuriken for sure this time!"

Rai found this turn of events acceptable. Naruto seemed happy, and he hadn't needed to swallow too much of his pride in his endeavor to get back into favor with the boy.

Unbeknownst to either of them, Rai had been too busy raging and chastising himself for his earlier actions. He wasn't using his observational abilities during Naruto's meeting with the Hokage and had no idea the event took place at all. As far as Rai knew, Naruto had merely gotten in trouble with the shopkeeper and the chunin. Neither of the two were even remotely aware of the various measures that were going on around them on the orders of the Hokage.

...

* * *

 ** _Author's Notes_**

So, chapter six is done and I'm now working on Chapter 7.

whew, this one really worked me over.

I had a super hard time writing the hokage's office sequence concerning how Hiruzen reacts to Naruto telling him about Rai. I must have rewritten that damn sequence ten times before I was satisfied with it enough to move on. I struggled to try and balance between the gravity of the situation through the eyes of Hiruzen and his ANBU, a realistic reaction to things on his part, trying not to be excessively dark, and still being convincing. I think my final version of the sequence is believable enough and just dark enough to express how panicked the Hokage was of this situation without overdoing it. The first iteration of this made me think I was breaking character for him.

naruto, I tried to percieve him as I remember him being towards the hokage in the anime, but I also took a page from some other fan fiction depictions as a sort of reference to formulate my style of their interactions. I hope I did it justice. I think I'm finally getting a good solid grip on his character, and how he'd act in these situations. He now believes that Rai is a Kitsune, the mythological creature. He still has no idea that the fox is sealed inside him, but hey, he's more concerned with the opportunity to get a real kunai/shuriken and start practicing with it, and doing cool poses.

Rai, I accidentally goofed with Rai earlier in the story and had implied that Rai knew how the gate was locked. I needed to clarify, so I offered clarification via context in this chapter. Rai guessed that the gate was sealed in chapter 2 I think, but this was referring to the action of closing and locking a doorway, not _Fuinjutsu_ specifically. Hopefully that clears some things up for those who were confused by my goof. Rai has to actively focus in order to see and hear what Naruto hears, so he has no idea about the meeting Naruto had with the Hokage on account of the kitsune being too busy raging in his cage. We're starting to see Rai warm up to Naruto just a little bit. Expect to see more meaningful bonding in the next chapter.

Hiruzen, the Hokage I tried to portray as how he's seen acting towards Naruto in canon, though I added a touch more concern and competence to his character, at least in my opinion. Given how destructive the Kyuubi was, he didn't want to take any chances that it would get loose again in the middle of konoha. They likely wouldn't be so lucky in their subduing of the beast this time around. Also, I want to clarify as to why he does what he did in this chapter. He had a very limited time to put any sort of plan together, plus, he had just been informed by his Anbu only an hour earlier that the Kyuubi was confirmed to have been speaking with naruto for at least a month and a half. He panicked at everything this implied and had to act fast to deal with the situation as quickly as possible. He didn't have any time to waste coming up with anything more than a barebones basic plan, which he implemented in this chapter. Its his job to keep the village safe, and seeing as he had the naruto universe's equivalent of a kid playing with a potentially armed and ready to detonate nuclear bomb on his hands, he hit the big red panic button and did what he could _immediately_ do in that situation. So to speak. That being said, once it was learned that the situation wasn't exactly as it seemed, he was more eager to take a chance and do what he could to keep konoha safe without sacrificing the poor boy in the process. He speaks the way he does to Naruto, because, remember, Naruto is _six years old_. I know it comes across as cheesy and a little awkward, but all things considered, I like to think it works.

EDIT: OK, so a reader brought this important detail to my attention and I probably should have provided more context on it in the story the first time. The first iteration of this chapter gave off the impression that the emergency seal that Hiruzen had under his desk was a "Naruto kill switch", which it wasn't. Thanks for bringing it to my attention, I've made some changes that, hopefully, clear things up a bit.

I decided that I'm going to add in Japanese suffixes for honorifics for certain character dialogue and in certain situations, though its not going to be always present. I'm also going to add in certain japanese phrases every now and then, when I think they would be appropriate. IE: Naruto's " _Dattebayo_ " verbal tic whenever he's particularly excited or angry. I won't simply sprinkle it in, its going to be meaningful when he says it.

I'll also occasionally use Japanese names for Jutsu use later on, though I'll also swap between english names for the jutsu and I won't announce it every time after Jutsu's are used and named ( because that might get annoying)

Anywho, this chapter was pretty heavy, it demonstrates what I meant by _darker themes_ being present in the story, but the story is still going to try and steer to more light hearted content at its core.

As always, feel free to send me a PM or give a review to tell me what you think, or to share any ideas you might have regarding the story. I'm always appreciative of reader feedback, it helps keep me inspired and gives me a good way to gauge how I'm doing and where I can improve.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you next chapter!


	7. Chapter 7: October (Part three)

**_Pre-story AN:_**

Lets go over a review:

UseFistNotMouth: _Not bad. A more mature version of Kid Kyuubi. Just memory loss, not de-aging._  
 _I strongly dislike the personal flair you added with references only readers should get and random codewords that translate badly in a Japanese-centric story. Like Red Malestrom is Aka Naruto. Which is a funny pun, but really disrupts immersion._  
 _Why would they use a code word that includes the direct reference to the thing is is code for?_

Well, first off, I'm sorry to hear you don't like my personal flair, but that's just how I write. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot I can do about that, I can't just up and drop a writing style.

As for the whole "japanese-centric story" thing and your immersion disruption, well, sorry about the immersion disruption, but there's not a lot I can do about it at the moment. Things are going to get better as I get more comfortable writing this story, so just be patient and work with me here. Also I'm just writing this story for fun, please don't read so much into it. This all started as a simple concept I wanted to get out of my head and decided to roll with because people seemed to like it. I'm doing this as a hobby, I'm not trying to write a novel here, its really just for fun on the side so I don't lose my mind to the monotony of school.

Also, I should point out, as if the title of this story didn't make this very obvious enough already, I _reeeaaally_ suck at naming things. Like, I **_really_** am utter crap when it comes to coming up with names for anything. The only stuff I don't suck at naming, is primarily warships, tanks, guns, soldiers, Sci-fi and military junk basically. I'm trying my best here, and if anyone out there has any suggestions for names, please, by all means, I'd be more than happy to hear them!

Huge shoutout to vangian13 and mugu You two have been exceptionally helpful to me so far and I greatly appreciate your assistance.

 _ **Edits:**_ _ **I went ahead and altered these paragraphs to be more easy to read. Edited some consistency issues, added some polish. altered dialogue to flow better and be easier to follow.**_

* * *

 _Unbeknownst to either of them, Rai had been too busy raging and chastising himself for his earlier actions. He wasn't using his observational abilities during Naruto's meeting with the Hokage and had no idea the event took place at all. As far as Rai knew, Naruto had merely gotten in trouble with the shopkeeper and the chunin. Neither of the two were even remotely aware of the various measures that were going on around them on the orders of the Hokage._

* * *

 _(Hokage's office, later that night)_

The Hokage briefly paced behind his desk before coming to a stop and taking a smoke from his pipe. Shikaku Nara and Inoichi Yamanaka were standing before him now, both looking equally disturbed and perplexed by the events Hiruzen had just finished explaining to them. He'd put together a summary of the ANBU observation reports regarding Naruto, with the details on his behavioral shifts and changes over the past few months, which Inoichi and Shikaku were now reading over.

Inoichi, the man with Ashen blonde hair and a calm demeanor, spoke first, though he kept his gaze on the ANBU reports, "I wasn't quite sure what to expect when your messenger arrived with the code phrase regarding the Kyuubi, especially _that_ one, but I never would have expected this turn of events."

The Sandaime nodded his head, "I apologize again, for calling you both out here on such short notice, and for the fright, but given the gravity of the situation it was the only code phrase that came closest to-"

Shikaku, the man with the scars on the right side of his face and his hair tied up in a spikey ponytail, held his hand up to politely interrupt, "Its fine, Hokage-Sama, we're both happy to help, especially given the circumstances. I gotta say though, hearing _that_ codephrase, I was half expecting to see the Kyuubi standing in the middle of Konoha by the time I got here."

"I was quite unnerved myself, sitting in front of the boy." The old Hokage admitted sheepishly, "Shook me to the bone hearing him speak so casually about that monster, I feared the worst would come of it. The poor boy has no idea what he's dealing with."

Shikaku waited for the Hokage to finish before voicing his concerns, "It's for the best if we keep Naruto out of the loop, if we can continue to fabricate things that he'd be willing to believe, that would be for the best. The less the boy knows, the less the beast knows… assuming the beast _does_ have retrograde amnesia, as Naruto's testimony suggests. It was a stroke of luck for the boy to have already been fabricating his own take on things that we could easily build onto. Kitsunes, of all things, how ironic…"

"The beast may be docile _now_ , but it would be wise to assume the Kyuubi may become hostile or at the very least, aggressive, at some point in the future. Even if Naruto is convinced that the beast is just a Kitsune, and, in the off-chance that the beast goes along with it in its amnesiac state, that doesn't mean that the tailed beast will be any less dangerous." Inoichi said

Shikaku followed up with, "I agree, we have to have a plan in place to deal with the possibility of the Kyuubi becoming able to more directly influence, or outright possess, Naruto Uzumaki. Setting up those two ANBU teams to keep 24/7 eyes and ears on the kid was a good move, it gives us a little breathing room to sort this out. Do we have any backup plans yet in the chance that isn't enough?"

Hiruzen was next to speak, removing the pipe from his mouth for a brief moment, "That's why the two of you are here. Given the gravity of the current situation, I wanted your input before I moved forward with anything. As both of you know, I have the two teams of ANBU in place to maintain constant vigilance in observing Naruto Uzumaki for any and all signs of activity or hostility from the beast. The team leaders are very familiar with Naruto, if any signs of hostility or malicious activity are seen, they are in position to be able to immediately respond. Other than that, though, I was hesitant to make any decisions on the matter without your added assessment of the situation."

Shikaku folded his arms and shut his eyes in thought, "Your absolutely sure your ANBU teams will catch any signs of the Kyuubi's influence? Just how well do they know the kid?"

The Hokage made a face like he was debating whether or not to give details, but decided to at least give a reassurance, "Under any other circumstances, I wouldn't give out _any_ information regarding ANBU operations, even to the two of you. However, given this unexpected and unprecidented turn of events, I will tell you that an ANBU by the designation "Fox" was personally assigned to keep watch of Naruto since the boy's fifth birthday. They know Naruto's behavior and habits better than anyone; if anything were to suddenly change concerning Naruto's behavior or actions, it _will_ be noticed."

Shikaku hummed in satisfaction with the answer, and the Yamanaka read through the ANBU documents again, taking careful note of specific details.

After he finished his reading, Inoichi offered his assessment, "Based on what I'm seeing in these ANBU reports, there's nothing that would suggest Naruto was ever being possessed or otherwise made to do anything outside his control. Naruto Uzumaki appears to still be himself, as far as I can tell. There are instances depicted of minor behavioral shifts, but judging by his unusual conversations with himself, it may be that the tailed beast is influencing him via suggestion and persuasion. An indirect influence, so to speak. Given the boy's age and history, its easy to assume that the tailed beast could sway him with manipulative dialogue alone."

Hiruzen let out a sigh of relief, the possibility of the Kyuubi having been able to possess the boy, or otherwise force his will upon him had been a nagging terror in the back of the old man's mind ever since he'd had it confirmed that Naruto had been in contact with the tailed beast. He was still concerned with the threat of the tailed beast's persuasion and Naruto's vulnerability, but knowing that there was likely no threat of the boy losing control to the beast put his mind at ease, at least as far as that detail was concerned.

Shikaku read over the reports again himself, skimming through for specific details before giving his own analysis of the situation, "Given the current circumstances, we can safely conclude that the beast doesn't yet know how to open the gate, and neither does the boy. Since you specifically told Naruto Uzumaki to leave the gate alone and avoid anything to do with it, and Inoichi is under the impression that the tailed beast can't just possess the kid or force him to do anything, (not without your ANBU knowing about it), I think it's safe to say that if the Kyuubi hasn't made a move to break out by now, he likely isn't going to any time soon. That gives us plenty of time to prepare a suitable strategy for how to deal with this."

Inoichi nodded his head in agreement, "I concur, if the Tailed beast had any means of escaping, there's no reason to believe it wouldn't have done so already. That being said, we still need to maintain vigilance and proceed with the utmost caution. I would like to perform a psyche evaluation on the boy at some point, in order to determine the extent of influence the Kyuubi has on him."

Hiruzen fidgeted with his pipe in thought, going over everything that had been discussed thus far. The Sandaime was grateful for the input from Inoichi and Shikaku, having them around helped put his mind at ease, something he was not taking for granted at this moment. He eventually sat back in his chair, taking his pipe back into his mouth and taking a few puffs.

The trio would spend the next few hours devising plausible theories explaining how the situation came to be, though their main focus would be speculating possible scenarios they could plan for and what the best option would be for moving forward.

* * *

(Kitsune's prison)

Rai had spent that night brainstorming with Naruto and trying to come up with the best way for them to acquire ninja equipment, in addition to the next steps they should take in figuring out the lock for the kitsunes cage.

Naruto was hesitant to discuss the cage, for reasons the Kitsune could only guess at. Try as he might to get the topic of his prison addressed, Naruto simply couldn't be swayed from his precious ninja equipment, and the kitsune eventually caved and let it go…for now. His current objective was regaining the child's trust and repairing any possible damage he'd dealt to Naruto's relationship with him, and so he focused his mind on that.

They sat there and brainstormed, working together to try and come up with a plan that would accomplish their goal of acquiring throwing weapons for Naruto, and avoid any run-ins with irate shopkeepers.

Between the kitsune's intellect and the boy's innate ability to think creatively and improvise (under the right circumstances of course), it was only a matter of time before the duo managed to formulate a suitable plan that met the established criteria.

Naruto was very vocal in making sure it was known that he didn't want to try and shoplift again or steal, especially after how badly that had turned out for him last time. The kitsune assured him that this plan wouldn't involve any kind of theft.

Within a relatively short span of time, they'd been able to come up with several backup plans and had gone over them together several times, though Rai knew _he_ would be the one tasked with keeping track of the plans for the most part, given how abysmal Naruto's attention span could be at times. No matter, it was amusing at the very least, and offered him an opportunity for mental stimulus (even if it were minute).

This whole endeavor of Naruto trying to acquire a throwing weapon was pointless to Rai in the grand scheme of things, but Rai had been determined to try and reinforce the boy's perception of him in a positive way. This was to ensure that any unfortunate outbursts like the one he'd had the day before wouldn't be as big a threat to worry about, in addition to allowing him a greater range of flexibility in how he could interact with Naruto.

Not having to put on a façade of niceness every five minutes would ease a great deal of the strain he'd had to put on his pride. He was oddly grateful for having amnesia for this one aspect: not having memories to associate with his pride made it far easier to deal with the injuries said pride repeatedly sustained. As confusing as it was, it seemed to make enough sense that he was willing to leave it alone, especially considering the plentiful other issues he could focus his mind on.

Helping this blonde idiot on his quest to "become the greatest ninja ever", or whatever it was he'd repeatedly gone on about was at least giving the impression that it would be entertaining. However, given the fact that he was still locked in this mind numbingly drab prison of his, _literally anything_ that offered something new or different could be considered "entertaining".

Something that bugged Rai, though, was how Naruto seemed to react whenever the kitsune brought up anything concerning the gate to his prison. It was normal for Naruto to have an abhorrent attention span, but something seemed different this time. If Rai didn't know any better, he'd have thought Naruto was intentionally avoiding the topic.

As it stood, though, he had no reason to believe Naruto would do such a thing, nor did he have any justification as to why. He signed it off as simply being a case of the juvenile's deficient attention span and left it alone.

The big kitsune let out a yawn and rolled over onto his back, using his cluster of tails as makeshift bedding and pillows. He decided that the only thing to do now was to take a quick nap, electing to resume his contemplation sometime later. The boy quizzically asked him if there was anything else that he wanted to talk about, but Rai casually waved him off with a neutral, " **Beat it, brat, we both need to get some sleep.** "

Naruto nodded and said his goodbyes, disappearing shortly after; Rai was left alone with his thoughts.

Truthfully, Rai didn't think he ever _needed_ to sleep, but he did so anyway. The sensation of sleeping was pleasant for him, and waking up afterward always felt refreshing and he enjoyed it, so he took it upon himself to sleep every so often regardless of if he actually needed it or not as a kitsune. Plus, it gave him an excuse he could use to shoo away the boy if he didn't want to talk, and it usually worked.

If he hadn't so much on his mind, and so many things he couldn't ignore, he may have considered sleeping away the majority of his time spent in this cage.

* * *

(Ramen Ichiraku, lunch time)

Naruto finished gulping down the last of the ramen broth, setting the bowl down with a satisfied grin on his face. The boy's mind wandered as he sat there, finishing the rest of his drink; he wondered about the kitsune, trying to recall what he knew about Rai. He eventually came to the realization that, besides knowing that Rai was a kitsune and that he was a giant red/orange fox thing, he really didn't know all that much about him.

The Hokage had affirmed that Rai _was_ in fact real, and that meant that Rai was Naruto's first real friend, well, he _hoped_ they would be friends, and they were off to a pretty good start as far as Naruto could tell. Even if he happened to be a giant fox monster thing and his appearance still intimidated him whenever he stood before that sealed gate, Rai treated him like a normal person most of the time (even though he was kind of a jerk sometimes…) and was someone he could talk to, someone who knew what it was like being alone all the time, and that was good enough for him.

He decided then that he'd do everything he could to make sure that they would become friends, but in order to do that, he had to know more about him.

Any ordinary person would have come to the conclusion that if they wanted to know more about someone, they should talk to the individual that they wanted to know more about. Now, Naruto was no ordinary person, but to be fair, Rai had never been privy to sharing much in the way of details about himself (that he could remember) so Naruto was at least somewhat justified in his course of action. The wry-fox probably would have given him a sarcastic, witty response mocking his efforts anyways.

* * *

The eager young blonde soon found his way to the Konoha library, looking to see if he could find out more about Kitsunes and, by extension, Rai. Unfortunately for him, when he arrived, he saw that the old librarian wasn't present at the reception desk at the moment. The woman that currently held the front desk position instead was familiar to him, but not in the good way. He'd had several run ins with her before and she had no reservations with voicing how much she disliked his presence, no doubt due to his reputation, as was usually the case for villagers like her.

The boy considered taking a detour and trying to sneak his way in, but before he could act on it, she had immediately spotted the Orange hoodie he wore. Yet again he was given an example to support Rai's suggestion that he choose something to wear that wasn't bright orange, which Naruto would stubbornly hold his ground and refuse to do no matter how many times the wry-fox would be proven right. She shooed the boy away and angrily berated him for so much as thinking of entering the library, "Get lost, you damn troublemaker! A demon brat like you has no business here!"

Naruto didn't bother to engage with the spiteful receptionist, it was pointless.

The villagers in Konoha typically fell into three categories: the first category being the people who seemed to genuinely hate him and made it a point to put those feelings on display at every opportunity.

The second category was filled with the people who simply didn't want anything to do with him and pretended like he wasn't there or tried to send him away through various means.

The third category was for the few people who at least tolerated him and treated him like a normal person or, in extremely rare cases, showed him kindness. Teuchi-san, Hokage-jiji and even the old man librarian (as of recently) fit neatly into the third category. Rai could also fit into the third category, but he wasn't a villager so it didn't count.

This receptionist, however, very easily fit into the first category.

The boy sighed as he heard the same old list of things he _supposedly_ did that somehow justified the way that any of the first category of villagers were treating him at any given time. They weren't ever original with their accusations, or things that he had actually done for that matter (or that they had no way of proving he was the culprit), but it was always the same song and dance, and it always managed to deal some manner of damage to his self-esteem.

He was about to turn and leave in the middle of the receptionist's rant, so he could go and find one of the various ways he could sneak in without her being able to stop him (and so he didn't have to listen to any more of her crap), when he heard the voice of the elderly book keeper from across the way.

"Naruto Uzumaki? I wasn't expecting you for at least another week, have you already gone through the material I sent home with you? Or, perhaps you've come for some other reason, eh?" The old man had his usual permanent scowl as he strode over to the reception desk, but he spoke in a moderately friendly tone that contradicted his expression. Naruto often found himself wondering if the old man was actually scowling, or if his face had something wrong with it…or maybe that he was just really, _really_ old.

The woman at the reception immediately tried to argue with the elder librarian to send Naruto away and not let him in, giving all manner of examples of things Naruto had supposedly done, trying to justify her position, but the stubborn old man wouldn't hear it.

"You would turn away an eager young mind looking to learn from our library? And to think you would call yourself a keeper of knowledge!? Shameful display! _S-shameful display!_ " He had been shaking a scroll in the receptionist's face in a scornful manner as he criticized her actions.

Naruto couldn't help but hide a giggle at this turn of events, man it was awesome to see one of these hateful jerks get taken down a peg without him having to take matters into his own hands.

After the old man was satisfied with the choice words he spoke to the now adequately humbled reception woman, he turned to Naruto and gestured for him to follow.

As they went into the Library, Naruto glanced back at the woman behind the reception desk. The look she gave him told him all he needed to know, and he stuck his tongue out at her in his moment of petty triumph, ' _Serves her right!'_

The boy to this day still couldn't understand why most of Konoha avoided him, but he was particularly confused as to why they sometimes hated him like that. Without any explanation, he simply assumed that the people who hated him, people like her, were just jerks.

After they'd gone a short distance into the library, the elderly man cleared his throat and addressed Naruto, "So, what sort of quest for knowledge can this old book keeper assist you with today, my curious guest?"

Naruto had remembered what the Hokage told him yesterday and hesitated to tell the old book keeper about Rai, but that didn't mean he couldn't ask him about kitsunes, right? "I remember reading about kitsunes in those mythu… mytha-…rrgh, _Mythology_ books. Do you have anything else about Kitsunes I could read?"

The old man closed his eyes and tilted his head back slightly, "hmm, Kitsunes…kit-sunes…mmm…yes, I believe we might have some extra sources of information you might find useful." He resumed his usual demeanor and turned to walk over to one of the fantasy sections.

The old book keeper eventually returned with a few oddly named books and handed them to Naruto, "Some of these may not be very interesting to you, but there isn't an awful lot of reliable information on mythological creatures I'm afraid, especially Kitsunes."

The boy thanked him for the books and set them down quickly on a nearby study table.

"Unfortunately, most of what we know about mythological creatures is essentially stories that have been passed down into writing…little more than campfire stories and old folk tales, but there's some fact behind them if you look hard enough. No one has ever really met a kitsune, at least, nobody sober, or sane." The elderly man chuckled at his little bit of humor, giving Naruto an encouraging pat on the back, "Your time might better be spent studying academy prep, but I won't discourage healthy curiosity!", he said to the boy before turning away and heading off to attend to his other duties.

The old librarian wasn't necessarily what Naruto would consider a "friend", but he was a decent guy and he was helpful _._

Naruto looked over the books, trying to figure out which one to go over first. He decided to just pick one at random and crack it open, since he would go through all of them anyway and it didn't really matter.

The first book didn't have much more than what he'd read about the last time he did research on kitsunes, but it gave a few details he hadn't seen previously, so that was at least a little helpful.

The second book talked about the history of the mythology behind Kitsunes and where the myth originated, ' _Boring!_ ', the boy declared in his mind before he promptly skipped to the next book.

The third book turned out to be a story about the adventures of a Kitsune, Naruto thought it looked cool, and it had plenty of illustrations, so he decided he'd take this one home with him and read it later.

The fourth book had a collection of folklore and stories concerning Kitsunes, it offered a bit of insight into what Kitsunes were known for, and helped Naruto understand why Hiruzen had been so adamant that he not tell anyone else about Rai.

Some of the stories in this book were kinda scary, from kitsunes putting people under spells, causing disasters, enthralling (whatever that word meant, it sounded bad), there were plenty of things Naruto could find that painted a distinctly bad picture of kitsunes.

However, there were also stories showing just as many instances of kitsunes doing good things, or being neutral and fitting in as a human, or simply being pranksters, nothing _evil_ by his standards. Naruto wondered what kind of kitsune the wry-fox was; Rai seemed like a nice enough guy that Naruto could trust, but he _was_ in a magically locked prison. That, and Hiruzen had specifically instructed Naruto to not help Rai unlock the gate anymore, that the orange kitsune had been locked in that cage for a reason.

' _Well, I still don't know a whole lot about Rai, but at least now I understand why the Hokage was so serious when he talked to me about him._ ', Naruto thought as he leaned back in the chair. His mind drifted to thinking about what to do after he finished with these books.

The study sessions he'd done with the wry-fox had helped ease him out of his stigma towards reading, if only a little bit. Although he still didn't like reading books by any stretch of the imagination, he at least had a semblance of respect for them now and acknowledged that they _were_ useful...sometimes.

His thoughts were interrupted by the kitsunes voice, " **Isn't this is a surprise, here I was under the impression you hated books.** "

Naruto grinned, looking up at nowhere in particular, "I still do, but there were some things I was looking for."

" **Like information about kitsunes?** "

The blonde tilted his head and had a mildly confused expression on his face, "Huh? How'd you know that I was reading about kitsunes?" The books had all been closed at the time of the wry-fox speaking.

Rai gave an amused laugh before speaking, " **You do realize that my ability to see and hear the things you do, doesn't require me to speak to you in order for it to work, right?** "

Naruto narrowed his eyes at that, making a face, "That's kinda creepy…"

Rai answered in a sarcastic tone, " **Would you like me to make a sound to let you know when I'm spying on you?** "

The boy snorted at the suggestion, "Yeah right, you wouldn't actually tell me."

" _ **Possibly**_ **.** "

* * *

The kitsune had been observing Naruto since he left Ichiraku's, partly out of boredom, partly out of curiosity and wanting to gain an idea as to what Naruto typically did during his day to day, but mostly out of boredom. He noticed a few things here and there about the village that had seemed strange, though he didn't necessarily have much of a frame of reference with which to compare, so he chose to ignore them at the time.

He'd witnessed the shrill voiced receptionist give Naruto an earful, though lacking proper context, he could only assume that the boy had been considerably busier than expected. It didn't make sense, but given that the elderly man had scolded the woman afterwards for her behavior, Rai came to the conclusion that the receptionist must have been out of line. **' _Humans are confusing creatures…_** ' he thought to himself at the time. He found himself glad to only have to be dealing with the brat; trying to deal with the nuances for interacting with _one_ human was more than a headache enough for him.

It piqued his curiosity when he read through the books regarding kitsunes. He now found himself deep in thought, trying to nail down the stray thoughts that kept running through his mind, ' ** _Why is he wasting his time with these? We've already learned everything relevant to kitsunes. Well,_ I've _learned everything that I found to be relevant. I would have thought the brat would be studying up on those academy books._ '**

A thought crossed his mind, ' ** _Is the brat trying to learn more about_ me _?_** ' The kitsune couldn't understand why, was the blonde idiot trying to pursue a closer bond, or simply trying to understand him better?

He _supposed_ that having a closer bond with the brat could help him in the long run, but he was not keen on the potential commitments that would require. Plus, it increased the risk of himself becoming fond of the boy, which he stubbornly refused to allow. As soon as he was free of this prison, he would bolt for the exit and never look back. Once he was free, he would have every opportunity to freely seek out his past and find the answers he was looking for. The last thing he needed was the baggage from this blue eyed fool giving him reason to look back.

No, Rai was quite happy with this working relationship they had. No reason to complicate things.

* * *

Naruto repeatedly calling Rai's name eventually drew him back to reality, " **What is it, Naruto?** ", he asked with a slight hint of irritation in his voice.

"You promised you'd help me get my Kunai, remember?"

The kitsune remembered, but he couldn't pass up the opportunity to get at least a little additional research done on his prison. " **Actually, before we do that, would you mind asking your elderly librarian friend-** "

"He's not my _friend_ though."

" **Acquaintance, whatever, can you ask him what he knows about imprisoning evil spirits? Or perhaps he has books or scrolls on the topic?** "

The kitsune had put various pieces together after taking in the information acquired from the fourth book Naruto had read through. Recalling the stories of evil spirits being sealed into arcane prisons and divine seals to protect houses from malicious ghosts from those obnoxious comic books the boy had been fond of. Perhaps Rai had been sealed in this prison by some divine means due to him being perceived as an evil spirit? The theory seemed sound, especially when he accounted for the malicious nature of the crimson chakra he produced.

At least, it made more sense than any of the other theories he and Naruto had come up with. He had to admit, though, that the boy's idea of Rai being a cosmic entity from another dimension sent back in time to save Konohagakure had made him laugh from how _ridiculous_ it was, despite the brat's insistence that it made "perfect sense", and the extent of how elaborate and detailed he got with his absurd explanations had only further amused the kitsune.

Naruto shook his head and pushed the request to the side, "I dunno wry-fox, I don't think he has anything."

" **So,** _ **ask**_ **him.** "

"I'd rather not, I've got these books here already-"

Rai began to grow impatient, " **How is that stopping you? It never made any difference to you before, why is now suddenly so different?** "

Naruto was growing steadily more nervous and even a bit confused as the kitsune pressed on, "B-because, I can't, don't you remember? Besides, we've got other things to do!"

The kitsune recalled how the boy had avoided discussing the cage earlier. He had dismissed it as being a result of the boy being too focused on acquiring that kunai, as trivial as it was, but now? Now he was starting to question the earlier assessment.

Rai could find no excuse for the boy's current behavior, and he was getting suspicious of the his unusual mannerisms as he pushed the topic. Something was different, something was wrong, Naruto had never been this reluctant about helping him with the gate before. Reluctant was too light of a word, he was seeming to almost _refuse_ to do it. That raised serious questions that the fox needed answered right here and now. What also bothered the kitsune was how the boy alluded to him supposedly already knowing the answer.

So he pressed on and continued with urging the boy to inquire about the subjects concerning the kitsunes prison, determined to either have his suspicions confirmed, or to get the brat to cave to his demands and do as he asked. Either way, he would get what he wanted.

" **Naruto, ask him, he's literally right over there, walk over and ask him.** _ **Now**_ **, brat.** ", Rai's impatience was clearly shown through his voice, as well as a manner of anger, though he did his best to keep that under control.

"I…I can't.", Naruto tried to explain.

" **And why can't you? What's stopping you?** "

"You know why I can't, besides, we already have plans!", the blonde had finally said after repeated badgering by the kitsune.

The kitsune furrowed his brow and his fur began to bristle in anger, Rai's suspicions had been confirmed. Naruto _was_ refusing to help him with the gate, but the thing he couldn't figure out for the life of him was _why_. Naruto had been so helpful up until this point, eager and willing to aid him by researching topics they thought to be relevant.

What could possibly have changed between yesterday and now? Was it the books?

The whole "we already have plans" excuse was something the kitsune simply wasn't buying, especially not with the previous conversation painting a very different picture in his mind. It also particularly irked him that the brat kept insisting that Rai should understand why he was refusing to help, adding a layer of confusion and frustration to the situation that didn't help matters in the slightest.

Rai remembered his verbal spat with the boy and his assessment that getting angry with the boy and lashing out at him would only made these situations worse. Even though his original outburst had been outside his control, the point still stood, verbally attacking the boy now would neither fix the problem, nor help him get any closer to understanding what had happened.

He took a few deep breaths and did his best to calm himself, which was understandably difficult for him to do. With enough effort though, he'd settled down enough that he felt confident he could at least hold a conversation with the boy long enough to get to the bottom of this.

Rai had calmed himself down just in time to see Naruto show up in front of the gates.

"R-rai…?" The boy had asked with uncertainty, taking a few steps towards him.

The kitsune shut his eyes and collected his thoughts before speaking, getting right to the point. " _ **WHY?**_ " he spoke with a bit more force than he'd intended, as was apparent by how the boy winced as Rai had spoken.

Naruto remained silent for several minutes, but eventually asked in a nervous tone, "…what?"

Rai sighed and ran his hand over his face in equal parts annoyance and anger, " **The gate, boy, why are you suddenly refusing to help me with it? I don't understand why you're doing this all of a sudden.** "

Naruto stammered and tried to find an excuse for his actions, "I'm not... _refusing_ to help you, honest! I'm just really excited about our plans, you promised we'd go and-"

Rai interrupted the boy before he could finish, " **No, this is the second time now that you've avoided talking about unlocking my cage. This time you refused outright, I need to know** _ **why**_ **.** " He could clearly see that Naruto was visibly nervous and seeming to not understand why Rai was getting so upset, only furthering the kitsune's confusion and fueling his anger.

Rai sufficiently contained his anger at the situation, determined to not allow a lapse in judgement to undue his efforts again. This wasn't normal behavior for Naruto, the kitsune wracked his mind trying to figure all of this out. ' ** _None of this adds up. I don't recall ever saying anything to give this brat reason to refuse to help me, neither do I recall seeing anything particularly incriminating in those books, but even then, why is he acting like this is something we both agreed to? this must have started sometime between the time of our verbal spat and last night…'_**

He leaned in, lowering his head to be closer to eye level with the blonde brat and spoke, " **Naruto, why are you doing this to me? What's gotten into you, what's going on?** "

Naruto looked away, not saying anything, but having a sad look on his face. The boy didn't understand why the wry-fox was accusing him of not wanting to help, he was there during the meeting, wasn't he? He didn't understand why Rai thought he was refusing to help him, he had been told not to help him open the cage, but didn't Rai hear the hokage too?

The kitsune sighed and had a look saying he expected this outcome, yet was still disappointed. " **Fine then, have it your way, brat.** " Rai turned to face away from the gate and laid down, curling his tails to serve as bedding once more.

"Wry-fox, I don't understand-"

" **Leave, Naruto, I need some time alone.** "

Naruto took a few steps towards the gate, "Wait, but you promised we'd-"

The Kitsune didn't bother to look up from where he lay as he interrupted, " **Why should I help** _ **you**_ **, if you're going to refuse to help** _ **me**_ **?** "

Rai had a point and the boy knew that. As much as it pained him to leave things this way, Naruto didn't know what else to do. He was just doing what he was told to do by the Hokage, nobody disobeyed the Hokage, right? Why couldn't Rai understand that?

Naruto reluctantly left Rai alone, seeing as there wasn't anything he could do to fix the situation.

He eventually slipped out of the library and wandered the streets of Konoha for a good half hour or so, trying to figure out what he was going to do now. He wanted himself and Rai to be _friends_ , and he probably just blew it, but he couldn't understand why or how.

Was Rai trying to get him in trouble again? That was a possibility that had frightened him, and had been partly the reason why he hadn't thought to simply remind the big kitsune why they weren't supposed to talk about the gate. His mind wandered and he found himself trying to rationalize why Rai was locked in the cage in the first place. None of it made sense to the boy, and he hated how he couldn't do anything about it.

He couldn't help but feel a bit angry towards Hiruzen; after all, he was the one who told Naruto to keep Rai a secret and to not help the kitsune anymore with figuring out how to open the cage. He didn't understand why, only that the Hokage had forbidden it.

* * *

Rai lay facing away from the gate for quite some time. His mind was pouring over the information he had available to him, trying to find any semblance of an explanation that would make sense of Naruto's unusual behavior regarding the kitsune's prison. Only after several hours of deep thinking and theorizing and making speculations, he eventually came to a point where he felt confident that he was beginning to piece things together.

' ** _He seemed so confused by my reactions, too confused, as if he were expecting me to already understand why he was doing what he did… Something had to have happened while I wasn't observing, something outside our interactions. He didn't read anything in the books that would have caused this, he had forgiven me for the incident the other day regarding getting him caught shoplifting… The only thing I can think of that could explain why he refuses to help me is if he'd been given instructions by someone, someone who knows something about me that I don't. This person would clearly have some sort of authority over the boy if he would follow their instructions… but who?_ '**

The kitsune pondered over this for a long while, trying to recall the few people he could remember from his observations of Naruto. ' ** _The boy has no parents, so paternal interference is immediately ruled out… There's the ramen chef, but I seriously doubt_ he _knows anything useful about me. That, and he doesn't show signs of having authority enough to meet the criteria… The elderly librarian has potential, as far as information is concerned, but Naruto doesn't respond to him as if he has any sort of authority either..._ '**

Rai was determined to find out who this person was, as they likely had some of the answers he needed. The kitsune thought things over in his mind and came up with two plans for how he would do it: First and foremost, he could ask Naruto directly, but he wanted the boy to get the message through his head that he did not approve of being taken advantage of. Rai was not going to help the brat if he was going to refuse to help _him_ , and trying to seek help from the brat now would only paint him in a hypocritical light, which wouldn't help him in this situation at all. **' _I'll hold onto that one for later…_** '

The other option was to patiently observe Naruto over the next few days and try and identify who this person was himself. It would take time, but it shouldn't be too difficult to get a list of individuals that fit the bill. Afterwards he could use deductive reasoning to figure out the likeliest candidate. **' _That seems like my best option at the moment.'_**

After thinking things over, Rai ultimately decided to silently observe Naruto. It was the logical choice in that he'd be hitting two birds with one stone: he could learn more about the boy in the process and would have a better idea of Naruto's day to day activities.

The kitsune had a general idea of what Naruto usually occupied his time with, but he rarely paid much attention to the boy's life. Outside of the times that he'd gotten bored enough to take a look at what the blonde idiot was up to, or when he needed something from him, Rai was content to allow himself to slip into deep thought and try and assess the situation with each new tidbit of information he'd managed to acquire.

After Naruto started those academy prep books, he had something much more interesting to occupy his time with. He'd spent his time practicing with his chakra, using the hand signs, basically everything Naruto was supposed to be learning from those books. It wasn't useful to the kitsune, but it was a productive way to pass the time and he found the endeavor to be entertaining. He could safely say he was looking forward to Naruto joining the academy, it would give him more to do and he'd be able to actually get somewhere with all the time he spent practicing as of late.

Up until this point, Rai had never gone much more than a few minutes at a time in observing Naruto. He knew some villagers strongly disliked him, he knew the boy loved Ramen and hated books, and he knew very well that the boy strongly desired to be a shinobi and eventually the Hokage… but that was about it.

He initiated his observation, and set himself up for the long haul of peering into the life of Naruto Uzumaki.

* * *

(Naruto's apartment, October tenth)

Naruto had woken up that morning, still feeling down over what had happened with Rai. Well, half of why he was currently gloomy was from the wry kitsune, but he was also set in his mood by the fact that today was now October tenth.

Everyone would be celebrating today, and he'd be all alone on his birthday, _again_.

He had been hoping that he could have counted on Rai to make that less of a reality, but after being actively ignored by him all day yesterday, he didn't get his hopes up.

The blonde stretched and dressed himself, downed a glass of milk, and quietly left his apartment. He was seven years old now, well, after today he'd officially be seven? He couldn't remember what the official time would be, but it didn't make all that much of a difference for his mood. The fact of him being one year away from joining the academy just wasn't able to cheer him up right now.

He scuffed his feet along the ground as he walked through the decorated streets of the village, occasionally glancing up at the fliers and streamers hung up, and the lanterns strung between buildings. He'd have thought they made things look livelier, and enjoyed the sight of them, had they not served as a reminder of what day it was.

On this day, the villagers were a lot less tolerant of his presence, giving him nasty looks and saying things under their breath that they thought he couldn't hear. ' _Same as last year._ ', he said to himself with a sigh. He'd guessed that the villagers of Konoha acted this way because they knew it was his birthday, and that they didn't like him trying to take away from their celebration…not that he'd ever wanted to do that.

All he really wanted, all he ever wanted to do, was be able to take part in it and have fun like all the other kids.

After idly kicking the occasional rock along the street as he wandered and tried to ignore the glares of suspicion and accusation he continued to get whenever he passed by anyone. He tried to find something to cheer himself up with. He could try a prank, maybe? No, that was no good, they'd be too wary of him today, there's no way he'd be able to get away with anything even remotely fun.

He could swing by a park and see if he could find any kids his age to play with, maybe they'd be willing to give him a chance this time? ' _Yeah, right, and maybe the sky would rain ramen._ ', the blonde's expression quickly flashed to one of excitement, ' _Now that would actually be pretty awesome!_ '

Naruto chuckled and let his imagination flow with the concept of raining ramen filling the streets, swimming through the noodles and the broth, getting so full that he swelled up like a balloon. He couldn't help but laugh at the image of himself in the shape of a balloon and flailing his little stubby arms and legs about as he floated across the ramen river.

The momentary ray of sunshine he'd gotten from imagining the never ending ramen didn't last nearly as long as he would have liked. With so many decorations and villagers out and about today, there was no escaping reality for him, not today.

He still tried to keep a cheerful demeanor as long as he could manage.

* * *

Naruto wandered some more, drawing closer to the main gathering point for the festival, he could hear everyone within and they all seemed so…happy. He listened to the children laughing and playing, the grown-ups gathering and socializing with friends and family. He could hear the sounds of games and the shouts of competition, the smell of the food cooking for later this evening. He could hear and smell all manner of things he so desperately wanted to be a part of.

Naruto knew that they'd never let him anywhere near the festival, but he at least wanted to catch a glimpse of what it was like. He snuck over to one of the building ladders that were routinely left lying around for civilians to access upper floors for maintenance. A short climb later, and he was on the roof.

He took a seat on the edge of the roof, peering out into Konoha plaza, the site of the main gathering for the festival. It was, well, nothing short of _amazing_. SO many fun games and events to experience, so much food (which he could smell much more clearly, and that made him salivate). He couldn't help but yearn for the experience, wanting so badly to be able to just go down there and be a part of this community. Naruto tried to work up the courage to do so, but he knew what they would do, he _knew_ how they would react to him trying to interrupt _their_ fun.

Still, seeing everyone so happy and socializing, seeing them having fun playing the games and enjoying the food… it raised his spirits as he visited the festival vicariously, imagining himself as this kid over here eating the dango, or as that kid over there tugging on their parent's hand to ask them for ryo so they could play the paper net fishing game. It was nice.

He forced himself to smile, imagining himself being in their place, being able to enjoy life as a normal kid with a normal family. He'd give anything for that.

The blonde leaned in for a closer look at something that caught his eye in the distance, an effigy of sorts that looked oddly familiar, but had leaned in too far and lost his balance. He tumbled forward off the roof of the building, but luckily there had been a decorative awning that caught him and prevented him from dropping three stories to the ground. Reaching out as he tumbled down the awning, he managed to grab hold of a cable, likely having been used to suspend decorative lanterns, and slid down it as best he could.

He'd done enough to prevent himself from suffering an injury when he hit the ground, but it still hurt when he landed. As Naruto got up off the ground, he immediately saw that all eyes nearby were currently on him.

Faces that had once been happy and cheerful were now plastered with looks of contempt, all aimed at the demon brat that had dared interrupt their festivities. There were a few faces that weren't hateful, but it was hard to notice them amidst the sea of angry villagers who were quickly beginning to shoo Naruto away and shouting at him to leave in various ways, few of them kind.

Not wanting to deal with their grief, Naruto broke out into a run and headed off away from the plaza as fast as he could. He knew that things would have only went from bad to worse if he had tried to stick around for any period of time, especially when they had that collective "we hate you, go away" vibe about them. The boy ran and didn't bother to look up from the ground in front of him until he was a good distance away.

* * *

Eventually, Naruto arrived at one of Konoha's parks, he frequently came to these spots in order to try and take his mind off of whatever was bothering him on any particular day. He plopped down in the grass on the hill, idly tugging at the grass next to him. The boy told himself he didn't mind being alone, that this was peaceful, or relaxing, or whatever fancy word he could think up to describe it.

In reality, that was just a lie he'd told himself time and time again to try and ignore how lonely he was. He pretended to be ok, pretended he liked sitting here in the grass and watching the last of the leaves fall, but he didn't.

More than anything, he just wanted someone to talk to right now.

* * *

Rai had expected some manner of spite from the villagers due to Naruto's reputation as a prankster and a pickpocket (though he knew that one to be exaggerated), but he would never have guessed at the unanimous ostracism towards the boy as he'd witnessed from the other villagers.

He recalled seeing instances of Villagers actively ignoring the boy and pretending he wasn't there, he remembered the vitriolic receptionist and had dismissed her as acting out of line after seeing the old librarian chastise her. Naruto's notoriety as a prankster and a general annoyance could perhaps justify a few of these instances, Rai could testify himself at the boy's tendency to get on one's nerves very easily.

But what he'd seen just within the timeframe he'd spent observing so far, this was something else entirely.

The looks they had given him, that he had experienced himself through the boy... they were looks of _hatred_ , as if they despised the boy.

That gathering though, that was the worst of it. Rai could have sworn that he could _feel_ their anger, their utter contempt for the boy, as if it were radiating off of them. Regardless of what it was he'd experienced, seeing these events unfold greatly confused him and raised a great deal of questions that he couldn't begin to try and find answers for.

Why were these people treating Naruto this way? The kitsune wracked his brain in an effort to understand the situation, trying to figure out what Naruto could have possibly done to earn their ire.

He considered all kinds of possibilities: Maybe Naruto stole from a high-ranking village noble? Perhaps the boy had pulled one of his pranks and it had unexpected consequences? Did Naruto kill someone?

No, nothing he could think of made any sense for the boy, nor did it fit with the given narrative for their behavior. Naruto was adamant that he only ever took anything because he was desperate and needed it, and it was only ever important things like food. Furthermore, Naruto's pranks had all been relatively harmless, and he'd have to give the boy credit that he was quite skilled at his hobby, and he found it hard to believe a prank had gone out of control and caused an entire village to hate him.

Lastly, Naruto simply didn't have it in him to kill anyone, it just wasn't in the brat's nature.

Maybe he was going about this all wrong, maybe it had nothing to do with something Naruto had _done_ , rather, maybe it just had something to do with him as a person? But what?

He considered that perhaps Naruto was diseased, though admittedly didn't know enough about illnesses to even try and elaborate on that idea. Rai thought about that maybe family of his had sufficient notoriety that the villagers hated him as a proxy for the relative?

The boy's parents were dead, so, that theory quickly lost wind on account of Naruto living alone and not with a relative. However, Rai did keep that idea on the shelf, after giving brief consideration that perhaps that relative of his may have been in prison? **' _the boy's never made any attempt to visit them though, so…egh, nevermind, scratch that idea._ '**

Rai couldn't think of anything else that carried enough significance to justify the villager's contempt for the boy, all variables considered. None of his ideas ever added up to account for every variable, there were always too many holes that lead to things falling flat and returning him back to square one.

His ears perked up and his eyes went wide as one last idea hit him, something he didn't consider due to the circumstances surrounding it, but…

What if these Villagers having contempt towards Naruto, what if it all had something to do with _Rai himself_?

At first, Rai denied the idea outright, there was no way that could be the case. He and Naruto had only met one another a few months ago, and Naruto had only ever mentioned him to one person directly, the Ramen chef. Furthermore, the chef seemed like the only person in this wretched village that showed the boy any semblance of actual kindness, so why would he tell the village about the two of them?

Another thing that added to the confusion was recalling the fact that the villagers seemed to show signs of their contempt _before_ Naruto and Rai had first spoken, as the kitsune recalled from the strange dreams he had during his first few weeks in this prison of his.

But…that didn't necessarily rule out the possibility that they knew about Rai from some other source. After all, Naruto had been told by someone to discontinue assisting Rai, and Naruto behaved as if Rai should have already known this to be the case.

The pieces started falling together, albeit slowly and uncertainly, but the connections all seemed solid, provided a few assumptions panned out.

Yes, this actually did make sense when Rai contemplated over everything. If this individual Rai had never seen before already knew about him, it wasn't too far of a stretch to assume that other people might have known about him too. If that were indeed the case, and rumors spread over time, it would be safe to assume that this would be the reason why Naruto was ostracized by the village. They were afraid of the boy because they were afraid of his connection to Rai.

The villagers of Konoha knew about the kitsune, that was the only explanation that made sense, even if Rai didn't have all the pieces to fully conclude that to be the case, it was the only thing he could come up with that properly addressed the majority of the variables he had set.

He had a suitable explanation for the how and why for the villager's hatred of Naruto, but there still remained one question, why were they so afraid of Rai?

* * *

Naruto sat with his knees against his chest and his arms draped loosely over his shins, his cheeks resting against his knees. The boy had been quietly crying for the past fifteen minutes, though he'd been too deep in thought to care. He simply sat there, weeping and wallowing in his loneliness. The blonde had made it a point to stop doing this to himself, but after what happened with Rai, he couldn't stop himself from crying no matter how many times he childishly stated to himself "Shinobi don't cry".

He failed to notice when the kitsunes voice entered his mind. He also failed to notice when he'd arrived at the gates of the Kitsune's prison.

Rai felt his heart twinge with sympathy for the boy. He had no idea that this is what the boy's life was like. Naruto was treated like an outcast by the majority of the village, sometimes worse. Seeing this child weeping like this, curled up in a helpless little ball…he felt, _pity_ for the boy.

It all started making sense to him now as to why Naruto had been so quickly growing attached to him over the past few months, why Naruto was so eager to be helpful and to try and get his attention, why the boy would continuously annoy him with his questions and curiosity. Naruto had no one, he was alone.

No, he wasn't just alone, he was _rejected_.

He'd been so enthusiastic and appeared like any ordinary _annoying_ kid, he seemed almost _happy_. How could the boy have been able to keep up a facade like that? Rai couldn't imagine the amount of strength this child had in his heart to be able to carry on the way he had.

The kitsune's face took on a saddened expression by all of this, and he couldn't help it.

This revelation, this glimpse into what the boy's life was like… as much as Rai had adamantly rejected the idea of bonding with this boy, the irony of it all was not lost on him.

Rai and Naruto were all either of them had in their lives, the only ones they were able to talk to or have any semblance of real kinship with.

While Rai didn't mind being alone, he had to admit that had largely been due to his stubbornness and arrogance. He never conceived of seeing the boy as anything more than a tool, a means to an end. He failed to realize how lonesome all of this had been, and just how much he'd actually enjoyed interacting with the kid, even if he was an annoying little brat most of the time.

Whereas Rai had turned his nose up at Naruto's kinship, Naruto had clung to the kitsune's kinship, even after Rai had repeatedly mocked him and generally treated him poorly. Naruto Uzumaki desperately desired Rai's companionship, and only now did he begin to understand why.

Rai contemplated all of this, and it hit him hard. Try as he might, there wasn't any avoiding the truth at this point. The two _needed_ each-other, a lot more than either of them realized, or that Rai cared to admit.

With a resigned sigh, and his ears drooping partly from defeat, partly from how genuinely sorry he felt for the kid, Rai eventually spoke, adding something other than the sounds of Naruto's sobs to the room. " **Naruto.** "

The boy took a few moments to respond, quickly trying to dry his tears and altering his expression to look less pitiable (to no avail), "Y-yeah, wry-fox?"

Rai did his best to offer a warm expression to the boy, not knowing what else to do at this point. " **Why don't we…err…play a game? To lighten the mood?** " Awkward as it was, it was the best he could come up with, given the current circumstances.

Naruto sniffled, doing his best to put on a brave face and pretend like he hadn't just spent the last half hour crying, "Y-yeah…yeah, sure. I'm not too good at board games though, so.."

" **That's fine, Naruto, this will be a simple game that we don't need anything to play.** "

The boy slowly stood up, his expression still showing the remains of his sorrow from earlier, "Yeah? What's the game then?"

The kitsune gave a gentle smile, as best as he could muster, " **Its very simple, and it will help us get to know each other better. All we have to do is ask each other questions, and we answer the questions as honestly as we can. Would you like that?** "

The blonde haired boy wiped the last of his tears away, struggling to rid himself of the quiver that nagged at his bottom lip. "Sure, I'd like that…"

" **Glad to hear it. You may go first if you wish, we'll start simple and work our way up…** "

* * *

 ** _Author's Notes_**

First and foremost, terribly sorry for the delay in getting this one out.

I really did not like how several parts of this chapter turned out, but it got to the point of absurdity in ho many times I scrapped and rewrote certain sections. I eventually had to come to a point where I was at least satisfied enough to move on, but I still didn't necessarily like how the end result turned out.

Specifically speaking, the meeting between Hiruzen, Shikaku and Inoichi was particularly difficult for me. I scrapped the sequence entirely and started from scratch three times before I eventually found something that balanced between plot movement and characterization accuracy. I used inspiration from their character depictions in other fanfics and hopefully I did their characters justice, but I'm not holding my breath.

I hit a point of writers block in this chapter and really struggled to get over it, but, in exchange for that, I made this chapter a little extra long. (Because you readers deserve it)

Naruto, I gave hints and glimpses at how he's been treated by the villagers in previous chapters, but this is where I decided to go a little more in depth with it and show that Naruto is really hurting from his isolation and loneliness. Humans are social creatures, and its been proven that we suffer some really serious problems as a result of social isolation and deprivement of human interaction. I hoped to show a bit of that here, and elaborate on his relationship with Rai. Given his circumstances, and that he's at a critical point in social development, its hitting him hard enough that he's gonna cling to the first person to offer him that sense of companionship (Rai) Even if that person doesn't share the feelings.

Rai (kyuubi) He's gotten more development in this chapter, a lot more. I showed more of how intelligent Rai is and how he goes in depth to figure things out as best he can with what he has available to him. I also elaborated with how little Rai knew about our beloved blond idiot, and how he hasn't ever actually seen firsthand the kind of bullshit Naruto has to put up with. He's gotten glimpses, but never a full day in the life of Naruto uzumaki. I also went and dropped hints as to how his characterization is going to develop further down the line.

Hiruzen had similar development to what he had in the previous chapter. Wants what's best for the village but also wants to ensure he isn't condemning an innocent kid in the process when he doesn't have to.

Inoichi and Shikaku, added these guys in as a means to drive the plot in a meaningful way. Having them assist the Hokage in something like this made sense at the time, due to the Yamanaka's inherent affinity with the mind and the Nara's intellect. I tried to depict Shikaku as a more mature version of Shikamaru, since there isn't exactly a lot of screentime of the guy for me to work with and I figured "like father like son". I based Inoichi off of how I've seen several other fics do.

whew, holy cow this chapter beat the heck out of me. I almost didn't get it done today. I've been seriously stressing out over how I wanted this chapter to go ever since I started it. I'm really glad I got through it, yeesh. Who knew a hobby could be so stressful?

Again, hyuuuge shoutout to the folks that helped me out with this story and this chapter especially, you know who you are (and I also gave mention in the pre notes)

As always, feel free to shoot me a PM with your thoughts, or write a review and tell me what you think of this chapter, or the story so far as a whole. I always appreciate feedback!


	8. Chapter 8: Ask your questions

**_Pre-story AN:_**

I'm working on the problem I've noticed with my overuse of epithets between character dialogue and actions. Its especially problematic in the first chapter. I may go back and do some editing to add polish to the first few chapters and make things all nice and shiny and less straining on the eyes.

Now for some reviews:

Guest: _Love Rai's realization here, as well as his compassion. You've allowed Rai to develop into more than just a culmination of centuries of anger._

Thank you, I've taken careful consideration for what kind of character I wanted Rai to become. I figured it'd be rather silly for Rai to stay as a "culmination of centuries of anger" if he couldn't recall any of the events that contributed to him having that anger.

Shinigami Miroku: _This is a really interesting idea, and you've done a good job of keeping it not only coherent but also interesting. My only question is if you might not be rushing the whole 'revealing the truth' to the Fox, but then I don't know what you have planned for the rest of the story, especially once we get around to Shippuden and the Akatsuki, so all I can say is 'best wishes', and 'can't wait to see what you have planned for next'.  
_

I really appreciate that. I've been worried myself about whether or not I was going too quickly with Rai finding out the truth, but I want to establish the foundation for the relationship between Rai and Naruto in these initial chapters, and get things moving towards the academy arc.

EDIT: added in missing sentences and words that magically didn't make it into the doc manager from the word document because "reasons".

 **Ok, I have something I need to say after receiving a really unfortunate message from a reader.**

I'm not gonna name names, I won't beat around the bush, but I'm gonna say it here since I don't want to wait till the next chapter is complete to address this issue.

First and foremost, the only reason this story exists is because of a concept I thought up in my mind after rewatching the first Naruto Series last year and reading a _ton_ of naruto fanfictions. The people reading this story, favoriting it, following it, THEY convinced me to actually go on and roll with it after I wrote the first chapter, even though everything in my head was trying to convince me not to keep going. I want to thank my readers for your support, and I appreciate all your feedback. You are what convinces me to keep writing this.

This story is being done for _fun_ , for enjoyment, period. Its not intended to be taken super seriously, its not intended to be some gritty, dark, serious experience. Its supposed to be an enjoyable, lighthearted adventure between a boy and his demon fox with some grounding elements to keep things rounded out and not ridiculous or over the top. It can be taken seriously, but not to the extent as the person who sent me the message I'm addressing.

I am perfectly fine with criticism, I _want_ criticism to an extent, it helps me improve myself as a writer and keeps me going and giving me new goal posts to strive for. If you disagree with me, you can tell me what you'd have done differently, I'd love to have a chat about potential plot points and story elements. Believe me.

However, what I will not tolerate, not now, not ever, is people taking this _fanfiction_ so seriously that they think its acceptable to swear at me in a public review. That kind of behavior is immature, its unacceptable and unnecessary, period. You can disagree with me all you want, you can tell me everything you think I'm doing wrong, I'll hear you out.

I draw the line at you getting so upset that you'd use profanity over a ** _fanfiction_**. Its meant to be _fun_ , not taken so seriously that you throw a fit over it.

I'm sorry that you don't agree with my writing, and I'm truly sorry you feel the way you do about this chapter, but I cannot stress this enough, its a **_fanfiction._**

 ** _please_** don't take it so seriously.

Regards, Cynical Kyuubi

* * *

 _Naruto sniffled, doing his best to put on a brave face and pretend like he hadn't just spent the last half hour crying, "Y-yeah…yeah, sure. I'm not too good at board games though, so..", "_ _ **That's fine, Naruto, this will be a simple game that we don't need anything to play.**_ _" The boy slowly stood up, his expression still showing the remains of his sorrow from earlier, "Yeah? What's the game then?", The kitsune gave a gentle smile, as best as he could muster, "_ _ **Its very simple, and it will help us get to know each other better. All we have to do is ask each other questions, and we answer the questions as honestly as we can. Would you like that?**_ _"_

 _The blonde haired boy wiped the last of his tears away, struggling to rid himself of the quiver that nagged at his bottom lip. "Sure, I'd like that…", "_ _ **Glad to hear it. You may go first if you wish, we'll start simple and work our way up…**_ _"_

* * *

(Kitsune's Prison)

Naruto and the big kitsune sat there with the great red gate separating them. Their little game started off, the rules being that they had to answer honestly and the questions had to start out simple. They could choose to decline to answer any questions if they wanted to, but only a set number of times.

The blue eyes of the boy were still reddened by the crying he'd done earlier, and his voice trembled ever so slightly, indicating he was still quite upset and doing his best to hide it. "Do you…did you have any friends…before all this?" he asked, which mildly surprised the big fox. " **I said to start small, Naruto, that's a bit too…complicated. Try something simpler…like, what my favorite color is, or something.** " The fox said with a gentle tone, trying to reassure the child as much as he could. "O-ok, wry-fox…, what- what's your favorite color?" Rai was about to answer, when he suddenly found himself unsure how to answer such a simple question and he couldn't help but laugh at himself over this. He'd given a suggestion to the boy and didn't bother to have an answer ready for it. "What's so funny…?", " **In all honesty? I don't have one, I never thought about it until now.** " This made the boy crack a light smile, though his voice would still carry the slight tremble, "You…don't have a favorite color? C'mon Rai, _everyone_ has a favorite color!"

The big fox scratched his chin and thought about it. He could just spout out any random color and claim it was his favorite, the boy wouldn't ever know. Though, he had to at least be fair to him and follow his own rules, so he thought about the colors and chose one that seemed most appealing to him at the time. " **If I had to pick one, I suppose my favorite color would probably be…Cyan? though I think Red comes in at a close second. I think they may be tied.** ", "Cyan? Is that the color the morning sky is sometimes?", " **I think so? What about you?** " Rai already figured what the answer was, but he asked out of politeness. Naruto pointed to his bright Orange hoodie that was a size too big for him, figuring Rai already knew, or had guessed the answer. Rai grinned, expecting that kind of response, " **But of course, that was obvious.** "

They sat there and asked their questions, going back and forth with taking turns, each giving honest answers to the best of their abilities. The questions were just simple, basic details, nothing really _important_ per-say, but it was good enough to set the tone of their "game" and help the boy feel more at ease. Rai could already guess the answers to the majority of the questions he elected to ask Naruto, but given the objective of this part of the game was simply cheering the boy up, he asked them anyway.

Naruto enjoyed the opportunity to learn a little bit about Rai, and appreciated his company. It was hard for Naruto to tell what the kitsune was thinking, but he seemed…gentler than he usually was when they talked. The boy didn't understand why Rai was suddenly being nicer to him, especially after what had happened between them the last time they spoke, but he was too preoccupied with their little game to give it too much thought.

After a few dozen turns passed and they'd shared quite a few little details about each other (or contemplated and came up with a suitable answer, as was often the case with the big kitsune), Rai noted that the boy's mood had improved by a decent margin. This simple act that the big fox had thought up on a whim seemed to have had a bit bigger of an effect than the kitsune was expecting, which alluded to the fact that the child rarely had any opportunity to interact with anyone in a positive manner.

The two continued with the game; the fox took the time to think these things over. Rai eventually asked, " **What goals do you aspire to achieve?** ", but the boy tilted his head, and in a surprise to the fox, shot back, "Layman's terms, Rai?" This made Rai smile, Naruto had been picking up on the kitsune's word selection, ' _Well would you look at that? The blonde idiot is actually starting to expand his vocabulary!'_ He'd have said that to Naruto, but under the current circumstances, that may not have gone over so well (even though it wasn't intended to be antagonistic). Instead, the fox simply restated the question with simpler words, " **Do you have any dreams you want to see become a reality?** "

Naruto's face lit up and he managed a smile as he answered, "My dream is to become the Hokage someday, and I want to be the greatest ninja the world has ever seen!" He seemed to not mind that Rai already knew this, and Rai expected as much. The kitsune had been told on numerous occasions what the boy strived to do, what he wanted to become, often to the big fox's annoyance. There was more to the story behind the boy's ambitions, but Rai didn't pry, as he was fairly confident he already had an idea what the underlying reasons were behind Naruto's goals.

However, Rai recalled that he had never once inquired as to what a "Hokage" was, partly due to his annoyance at how often Naruto brought it up, partly because he hadn't cared. Now seemed as suitable a time as any to ask.

" **Naruto, what** _ **is**_ **a-** ", but before the kitsune could finish, the boy was already waving his finger at Rai with a cheeky grin on his face, "You already took your turn, wry-fox, it's _my_ turn now!" Annoyed by this as he was, Rai sighed and conceded, " **Fair enough, go then.** " The boy thought for a moment before he asked his next question, looking up at Rai expectantly and with a hopeful expression on his face as he did so, "Are you… gonna help me out when I join the academy? I mean, I remember at the library you said that you weren't going to help me if I wasn't helping you…so…" Rai cocked his head to the side, lightly furrowing his brow at the question, not liking _any_ of the implications.

After the kitsune gave the question some careful consideration, Naruto eventually received his answer. " **I'm not going to hold your hand in this, boy. If you want to achieve your dreams, you're going to do it of your own abilities.** "This had a double-edged effect on the boy, and the look appearing on the child's face convincedRai to quickly add in, " **H-hey, that's not to say that if you** _ **do**_ **run into trouble, you can't ask me for help. I merely meant that I'm not letting you use me as a crutch, that's all. Forget about what I said in the library, I was just upset at the time.** " Given the child's reaction after he added this in, Rai figured that, overall, the answer had been suitable enough for the issue to resolve itself without much more effort, though left some things to be desired. "You're gonna be a wry-bastard about it though, aren't you?", the boy eventually said, " **Naturally, but I'll still help you when you really need it**." Naruto laughed and pointed at the kitsune, "I'll ace every test the academy throws at me! Just you watch!" The big kitsune let out a hearty laugh and countered with a playful, " **That would probably require you to** _ **study,**_ **which means you have to do a lot of** _ **reading.**_ **You know, that thing you have an aversion to?** " The boy's jaw hung open, and he let out a groan as he briefly slumped forward in an exaggerated manner.

So far, his efforts to improve the boy's mood seemed to have been successful.

Rai got back to the question he'd wanted to ask before. " **Now, back to my previous question… I keep hearing you talking about how much you want to be a "Hokage", so I have to ask, what exactly** _ **is**_ **a Hokage?** " Naruto was quick to respond, "The Hokage is the leader of the village, he's the most powerful ninja in Konoha, and a person that everyone looks up to and respects. That's who _I'm_ gonna be someday, and then everyone in the village will stop treating me the way they have been! They'll finally acknowledge me for who I am!" Naruto had a serious look on his face now, a fist extended as if he were swearing a vow. The big fox admired the boy's ambition and found his naïve attitude to be amusing, but he also pitied how Naruto failed to realize that just obtaining a fancy title didn't mean that the people of this village would suddenly drop their prejudice towards him overnight.

However, Rai now had a lead to go on for who may have interfered with his goals by telling Naruto to stop assisting him with unlocking his prison. ' _Naruto clearly has a great deal of respect for the position, a respect that may be held for the individual in said position… they could be the one responsible for the boy's refusal to assist with unlocking my cage._ '

In addition to finding a lead, Rai was also learning more about the boy and figuring out his behavior. One by one, the puzzle pieces began to fall into place and settle neatly in the kitsunes mind. Naruto's hobby of playing pranks, his outwardly optimistic demeanor that he always carried with him... Rai began to understand, and he found himself feeling something akin to empathy for this smiling blonde idiot.

Rai couldn't help but laugh at that; _Empathy_ , something he'd have scoffed at the notion of feeling for this annoying idiot mere days earlier. He'd worked so hard to keep himself distant from the brat and not concerning himself with anything outside freeing himself from this thrice damned cage of his. Yet here he was, playing this dumb little game with this annoying child, trying to cheer him up and learning more about him.

All Rai had intended to do was spy on the kid and try and gain leads on who had been interfering with his efforts, and instead he was shouldered with all this information about how rough the boy had it. There was a large part of him that fervently argued that he still needed to keep his distance, and that this revelation was irrelevant to his goals. Most of him agreed that it held no importance next to his goal of leaving this prison, but there was still a part of him that couldn't help but genuinely take pity on the brat and would argue that he and the brat needed one another.

Rai turned his focus back to reality, deciding that any sort of internal conflict like this would offer nothing beneficial. He set the matter aside for later contemplation once he was done here with Naruto, now simply was not the time.

"You remember the old man in the fancy robes and the funny hat? The guy in that big tower the ANBU took me to? That guy is the Hokage!" The boy's statement made the fox cock his head to the side and give a confused expression, " _ **What**_ **? What are you talking about? When was this?** " Naruto telling Rai the date the event took place led to the kitsune slapping a hand to his forehead and dragging it down his face in annoyance. ' _Probably while I was busy throwing a fit like an_ _ **idiot**_ _…yet another reason why I need to make sure I keep my anger in check._ ' He rolled his eyes and informed Naruto that he was not actively observing at the time, and that he had missed the meeting entirely (avoiding the details of why). "Wait, you didn't…but I thought you were-! I thought you heard the Hokage telling me to…oh. Oh _crap…_ " The realization hit Naruto and his expression told Rai everything he needed to know.

" **Did this "Hokage" tell you to stop helping me with escaping my prison?** " Rai stated with a calm demeanor, but a serious look in his eyes. Naruto was clamoring to find the right words, "Rai, I'msorry, the Hokage told me not to-" The kitsune raised his hand and made a sound to shush the boy, interrupting him with his own words in the process. " **No, that's enough of that. I'm not angry at you for simply following along with what your village leader told you to do.** "Rai stopped that bothersome annoyance before it started. He refused to allow this to undue the past hour and a half of work he'd put in towards improving the boy's mood.

The kitsune had, in all honesty, been _quite_ angry with the brat. He was frustrated and irked by the boy's decision to heed the advice of another individual and suddenly stop helping him, but after everything that had happened along the way, he decided to let it go. There was no point in holding this against Naruto, it wouldn't get him anywhere.

Especially when considering that there were much more important things on his mind that took precedence over some petty grievances he held. This "Hokage" person knew something about him, something he might not have told Naruto. He needed to speak with this "hokage", and maybe then he would get a better understanding of why he was locked in this cage, and perhaps have other unanswered questions put to rest.

There would be plenty of time for that later, though, so for now, he re-focused his attention to Naruto.

However, before the two could continue the game, Naruto's stomach made a sound that caught the kitsune by surprise. He stared at Naruto with a bewildered expression and the boy laughed with a hint of bashful undertone. " **Was that** _ **you**_ **? Goodness, boy, I thought the walls were collapsing!** " Rai deliberately over-exaggerated his reaction, trying to make a play for humor, which was moderately successful judging by Naruto's expression. "Heheh, y-yeah, I haven't eaten lunch yet…", " **It sounds like you haven't eaten** _ **at all**_ **today.** ", and Naruto looking away had confirmed that, though the boy denied it. "I'm fine, really. I'll swing by Ichiraku's after we finish-", " **No, if you're hungry, you should go eat. We can continue this game of ours later.** "

It didn't take much effort at all for the kitsune to convince the boy to leave and tend to his hunger. Rai took this opportunity to mull over the details he'd acquired from Naruto, analyzing the mystery he had in his mind and trying to see if he could come to any conclusions based on this new information.

Unfortunately, he still ended up at the same conclusions as he had previously, albeit with a clearer perspective of what his next steps should be. He needed to speak to the hokage, and he would make the request to Naruto after the boy finished sating his hunger.

His mind wandered to the boy, and he found himself feeling the same sensations of empathy as he had when he'd witnessed the boy's façade come crashing down. He found himself conflicted as to how he should proceed, how he should feel; part of him wanted to disregard everything he'd seen and act as if nothing had changed, but that would only be him lying to himself and could possibly have negative consequences in his future efforts. A part of Rai wanted to reach out to the boy, wanted companionship, couldn't stand the thought of being alone. The thoughts were…confusing, raw emotional output at best. ' _As it stands, my goals have not changed. I need to free myself from this prison and seek out answers. Anything else is secondary._ ' He firmly assured himself, and yet…

Rai couldn't shake that annoyingly persistent feeling of _empathy_ he'd felt towards Naruto, no matter how he tried to spin it _._ This was inevitably going to complicate things down the line, complications Rai didn't need, but a tiny part of him wanted for some strange reason. ' _Irritating, but it shouldn't interfere with my end goal, so long as I keep this in check…_ '

The cynical Kitsune eventually dismissed that part of him as simply an aftereffect of an instinctive emotional response he had due to seeing firsthand the unfortunate circumstances Naruto had to live through.

That's what he told himself.

* * *

(Ramen Ichiraku, mid afternoon)

Teuchi had spotted the young blonde strolling up the street and motioned for Ayame to bring Naruto around to the back of the shop. It was far easier than dealing with the hassle of having to argue with the other patrons that were currently occupying half the available bar stools, and he didn't have to worry about the boy coming under any scrutiny if they were quick about it.

They had a carry out box prepared for him, filled with an assortment of the various appetizers the boy liked from the bar, a generous serving of one of Ichiraku's specialty deluxe ramen (usually too expensive for him to afford) and a dessert. It wasn't much, but Naruto loved it the last couple of times Teuchi did it, and it was the best they could do for the boy on his birthday without raising the ire of their patrons.

Naruto ran off with his gift after giving thanks to the ramen chef and his daughter, letting them get back to their busiest day of the year.

* * *

After a relatively brief walk, he found his way to a rooftop access, one of the spots he usually sat to enjoy this treat. It was quiet and away from the rest of the villagers, but really any rooftop would have served that need today. He mostly sat here in this spot specifically because it was close by and easy to get to while toting a carry out box filled with various Ichiraku delicacies.

Without any hesitation, he opened the box and set out the assorted foods contained within onto a cloth. He clapped his hands together, a pair of chopsticks held lightly between his palms, and just as he opened his mouth to speak, he heard Rai's voice in his head. " **Nice view, normally you're face down in a bowl of noodle soup and sitting alone in a bar. What's the occasion?** " Rai had intended that as a casual poke and not antagonistic, as was implied in his tone. "Well, I always come up here after I get my birthday present from Teuchi-san. It's the day of the festival, so everyone's out doing stuff; the rooftops are the only place I can get away from them, mostly."

" **What sort of festival are they hosting?** " Rai didn't necessarily care, but asked for the intent of casual conversation. "The villagers have all sorts of fancy names they like to call it, depends on what part of Konoha you're in and who you ask.", " **And what do** _ **you**_ **call it?** ", "My birthday." Rai facepalmed, ' _Dammit, I walked right into that one._ ', the kitsune then reiterated his previous question with a mildly irritated tone, " **What are the villagers celebrating?** ", to which the boy offered the witty response of "Not my birthday."

Rai hit his forehead against the red bars of his prison gate and gritted his teeth, irritated immensely by the child's humor, but he reminded himself why the boy was doing it and kept his cool. Naruto may have been acting like being alone on his birthday (while everyone else in the village was out celebrating) didn't bother him as he joked about it, but Rai knew better. " **I meant, why are the villagers holding a festival on the tenth of October? What event are they celebrating?** " Naruto slurped up the noodles he'd grabbed with his chopsticks before he answered, "They're celebrating the Yon- yanda-…the fourth Hokage. They say that, years ago, this giant red demon thing attacked the village. The Fourth Hokage went and fought the monster, protecting the village from being destroyed by the demon.", Naruto paused to slurp up another helping of ramen, "The fourth sacrificed himself to protect Konoha, so they're celebrating the fact that he was a hero." Rai gave a thoughtful huff, " **I see…and what happened to the demon?** " Naruto chuckled, "The big red bastard? The fourth killed it, the body disi-…disint…vanished, back to whatever nasty pit it crawled out from. At least, that's what Hokage-jiji and the elderly book keeper guy told me. It all happened on the day I was born, so I wasn't there to see it."

The kitsune took in this new information, nodding his head in understanding. ' _That may explain why the villagers are afraid of me…if their village was nearly destroyed by a giant demon, it's not too much of a stretch to think that they'd pre-emptively lock_ me _in this cage out of fear of a similar event occurring… though that still leaves many questions unanswered, such as why the villagers hold such contempt for the boy… I'm obviously missing pieces of this puzzle. Its more important that I speak to this Hokage now…'_

Naruto sat and enjoyed his birthday present from the ramen chef, watching the villagers conversing and enjoying the festival in their own ways in the streets below. This year saw a few street vendors open up along the main streets, Naruto tried to avoid getting too excited about them on account of the usual prejudice he'd be met with if he tried to purchase anything from them.

" **Naruto?** ", "Yeah?", " **I'll make you a deal…I'm going to uphold my promise to help you acquire the throwing weapons you want, but in exchange, I want to speak with your Hokage.** " Naruto had a look that said he was very much interested in the concept of getting his very first ninja tools. "I-I, yeah!" The boy froze as he realized that there wasn't any way for Rai to speak to the Hokage in person, and a look of uncertainty replaced the expression of excitement he had a moment ago. "But, how?", " **Relax, I'm not going to have you steal it-** ", the boy hastily shook his head and clarified, "No no, not _that_ , I meant, how are you going to speak to the Hokage, if I'm the only one you can talk to?"

A cunning smile crept across the kitsunes face as he answered the boy in a matter-of-factly manner, " **Simple! You're going to represent me.** " Naruto's head slowly tilted as he tried to comprehend what the kitsune said. Rai shook his head and spoke again, " **What I** _ **mean**_ **, is that I'm going to speak the words that I want the Hokage to hear, to** _ **you**_ **, and you're going to repeat what I say to the Hokage.** ", " _Oh!_ You mean like those people that follow around the rich lords and speak for them when they buy stuff?" The kitsune cocked his head to the side, ' _What in the world is this brat going on about? Ah, nevermind._ ', he shrugged and rolled with it. " **Sure, like that. You'll say the things I want to say to the Hokage, so he can hear me through you.** "

Naruto grinned, "Yeah, I can do that! No problem!", " **Glad to hear it, finish your meal and we'll head out to one of those training fields that the academy prep books mentioned.** " Naruto fist pumped, " _Yatta_! I bet the other kids'll be super jealous!"

" **I think you mean** _ **Envious…**_ ", "huh?", "… **nevermind.** "

Rai had come up with the idea for rummaging around a training field after seeing mention of them in the prep-books, and after witnessing how the villagers sometimes left things of limited importance simply lying around, and how sometimes those things would go missing. He reasoned that perhaps this would be the case with ninja tools used for training? The books mentioned that rookie shinobi often made a habit of using cheaper tools for training purposes, so that if and when they sustained damage during training, it wouldn't cost much to simply replace them. Rai was also betting that there might be lazy shinobi that had left their tools behind after using them for training, one of those ideas would be how Naruto could acquire them.

Despite it getting late, there was still enough daylight left to accomplish their goal, so once Naruto had finished with his meal and took the last appetizer to munch on as he went, the boy headed home. Once back home, the duo consulted the map of Konoha Naruto acquired (on Rai's insistence). The two determined the closest training ground and Rai committed its location to memory, going through the streets in his mind. " **Alright, I think I've got our navigation planned out, let's get moving before the sun gets too low on the horizon.** " Naruto nodded in affirmation and grabbed an old leather pouch and belt before he headed out, fastening it around his waist. It'd be the perfect place to hide his new ninja tools once he got them. He didn't want any adults seeing a seven-year-old running around with a weapon, especially not _him_.

For once, Rai agreed with the boy's logic.

* * *

After getting lost and taking a few wrong turns, Naruto had eventually arrived at one of the shinobi training grounds. The sun was still just high enough over the horizon to give them ample light for what they were doing. " **Let's have a look around. Should be easy to determine the best spots to search once I have an idea of what's what**." The blonde peered out onto the field, and though he figured nobody was training today because of the festival, better safe than sorry. "Looks clear!"

The blonde stepped into the training field, scanning over it and giving Rai time to take it all in. " **Alright, I've got a few ideas. Start with the shrubbery behind those training targets.** " Naruto nodded and quickly went over to that spot, getting to work scouring through the bushes in search of his prize.

After a few minutes, Naruto shot a fist up into the air and shouted in excitement, " _Yatta!_ I got one!" his expression very quickly soured as he went to scoop up the throwing knife only to find that the weapon was broken in half at the handle. " **On the bright side, we at least know we're on the right track.** ", "Y-yeah! Let's keep looking!"

And so, they continued, Rai keeping his keen eyes open and scanning for any trace of their objective, Naruto moving the shrubbery aside and crawling through it, determined to get what he came for. After roughly twenty minutes of scouring the shrubs behind the training targets, Naruto emerged clutching an assortment of damaged throwing weapons. He set them onto the ground carefully and looked them over, seeing if any of them were salvageable in their current condition.

None of the kunai were useable, they were either split in several places, rusted or bent (or both) to the point of being useless, or the material that usually was wrapped around the handle was missing. Naruto tried to argue that they were still useable, but Rai insisted that he _not_ use knives with compromised metals.

Very few of the shuriken were in even remotely useable condition. They were either too rusty to use, or they were blunted beyond use, or were split in places making them dangerous to use. The boy took three shuriken despite Rai trying to argue that they were "no good", since the prongs on a few sides had broken off, making them unbalanced. Naruto disregarded it and argued that he didn't come all this way just to turn his nose up at "less than ideal" ninja tools.

The blonde quickly and carefully put the shuriken into his leather pouch, then fist pumped in success. "Alright! I got my shuriken, now I just have to find a working kunai! Maybe we can find other old ninja tools around here too?", " **There isn't much daylight left, so let's make it quick.** "

* * *

(Naruto's apartment, evening)

Naruto tried to dry his clothes out the best he could (to no avail) and grumbled through chattering teeth, "S-s-stup-p-id, r-rocks-s-s!" His entire body was shivering heavily and he'd left a trail of water leading into his apartment all the way back from the training grounds. He threw off his soaked clothes and quickly wrapped himself in the itchy wool blanket he usually reserved as a comforter instead of a regular blanket. Naruto didn't care how itchy the raggedy wool thing was, he needed to get warm, and he needed to get warm _fast_.

" **I warned you to watch your step, but you were too focused on that damned kunai.** ", "S-s-s-shut up! W-w-we were run-n-ning out of t-t-t-time and I h-h-had to get it! _Dat-dat-dattebayo_!" The kitsune had cautioned against going into the stream that ran through the training grounds, but Naruto, being Naruto, had decided to forgo the caution once he spotted his prize beneath the surface. All it took was one miss-step on the loose rocks beneath the surface to send him plunging face first into the water.

It wouldn't have been such a bad thing if it had been a warm summer day, but this was a breezy, cold, autumn evening _._ "T-t-that wat-t-ter felt l-l-like it was mad-d-de of _ice_.", " **Technically, ice** _ **is**_ **just frozen water** ", " _N-n-not helping!_ " Naruto curled into a ball with the blanket wrapped around him and he fought to get his body temperature up. Not that he was in any danger of freezing to death, but being soaked in cold water when the air is already chilly and windy was _not_ a fun thing to experience.

On the bright side of being soaked and chilled to the bone, Naruto finally got his first set of ninja tools. He grinned through his chattering teeth and exclaimed to himself, ' _Worth it!_ '

* * *

(Hokage's Office, late afternoon)

Hiruzen was looking over the fresh set of ANBU reports on the situation involving Naruto and the tailed beast. He'd been on edge since yesterday, fearing that the beast may have been holding out and waiting for the day of its sealing to reveal itself and attack. The Sandaime Hokage reassured himself that this wasn't the case, that he was being paranoid. The ANBU reports cited a _decrease_ in activity from the beast, and that Naruto had done exactly what Hiruzen had asked of him. Fox knew Naruto's behavior better than anyone, he'd pick up on any change in behavior on account of that monster, no matter how sneaky it tried to be about it.

Taking his pipe in hand, Hiruzen breathed deeply the fresh medicinal herbs that he'd mixed in with his usual ground tobacco to calm his nerves. He rarely dabbled in the stuff, given how it often made him drowsy, but he gave himself reprieve from that usual scrutiny… at least for today. The old man leaned back in his chair and let his gaze wander, trying to take his mind off of recent events.

* * *

Hiruzen opened his eyes and had only become aware that he'd accidentally dozed off when he heard the knocking at his office doors. A quick glance out the window showed that it was nearly night. He cleared his throat and ditched the smoldering remains within his pipe, gathering his thoughts briefly before answering, "Yes, what is it?". "Hokage-sama, Naruto Uzumaki wishes to speak to you, he says it's important." Hiruzen paused for a moment hearing that, "Important? Did he say what it was about?"

"No, Hokage-sama, he would only specify that he needed to talk about it in private with you." Something about the choice of words made Hiruzen feel uneasy in a way he couldn't describe. Naruto didn't usually speak like that, and that had been oddly specific for the boy. He tried to wave it off and gestured for the receptionist to let him in.

The Hokage greeted Naruto with his usual warm smile, "Hello, Naruto-kun, it's good to see you again." Naruto returned the smile, "You too, Hokage-jiji!" The blonde plopped into the seat placed in front of the Hokage's desk and the two exchanged a bit of casual dialogue. "What happened to your orange hoodie?" Hiruzen inquired, noting that the blonde was without his usual orange hoodie that was a few sizes too large for him. "It got wet.", "Wet?", " _Really_ wet."

Hiruzen did the usual of asking how the boy's day had been, and Naruto went on his usual recollection of his most recent experiences, leaving out the bit about his talk with Rai earlier today (upon the kitsunes request, though the boy couldn't understand why).

After their casual chat, the Hokage reluctantly asked, "So, if I may ask, how has…Rai been, since we last talked?" The boy made a gesture with his hands, "He's been ok, _oh_ , right, that's why I came to see you!" Hiruzen had the same uneasy feeling he'd had earlier, but doubled, "Oh? And what would that be, exactly?"

"Rai wants to talk to you."

Hiruzen felt the color drain from his face and all the hairs on the back of his neck stand up at once. Shikaku and Inoichi had both warned him that this could potentially happen, and he assumed it would eventually come to pass sooner or later, but that didn't make him any more mentally prepared for this moment.

In Hiruzen's mind, he couldn't shake the visage of that monster, once again looming over the boy and casting its shadow over them both. This time, however, the fear was worse, imagining its demonic eyes boring into him; even if it was all in his head, it intimidated him to no end.

The Hokage reminded himself that this was not the monster he was speaking to, this was still Naruto. He took a deep breath and gently spoke to the boy, "He…wants to talk to me? How exactly will he be doing that?"

Naruto grinned, "I'm gonna be one of those people you see following around the rich lords and talking for them! Since you can't hear Rai, I'll just repeat what he tells me so you can hear it."

Hiruzen did a double take. A huge weight had suddenly come and gone; the fear of the beast possessing Naruto and using him as an avatar had shaken him, but hearing the boy say those words had lifted that weight just as soon as it arrived.

"You mean, like a translator?", Hiruzen asked, to which Naruto cheerfully responded, "Yeah, those guys! Rai came up with the idea, cool huh?" The old man offered a chuckle, trying to hide the many thoughts running through his mind, whilst Naruto still had the same innocent, cheerful smile he had on earlier.

Hiruzen shifted in his chair and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk and putting his hands together. "So, is Rai hearing us right now?" Naruto nodded and said, "Yep, and seeing, well, seeing what _I_ see. It's how we were reading together in the library, otherwise I'd have never gotten through all those boring old books." This would have piqued the Sandaime Hokage's curiosity, had the fearsome visage of the demon kyuubi in hiruzen's mind not chased that curiosity just as soon as it had arrived.

"The way it'll work is that I'll close my eyes when I'm repeating what Rai says, that way you'll know the difference between me and him." Hiruzen again found himself shifting nervously, trying to mentally prepare himself for this encounter the best he could. He took a quick glance to make sure the privacy barrier was still in place, and to make sure that Fox and the other seven ANBU were in position before finally saying, "This is a very serious thing, Naruto-kun, I sincerely hope that you aren't doing this as some sort of elaborate prank…", the Hokage's expression as serious as it had been when he first discussed with Naruto about Rai. The boy shook his head, "N-no, jiji, it's not a prank, honest!"

Satisfied with the answer, though secretly hoping that it _was_ just a prank, he nodded his head with a deep sigh.

"Alright, Rai, remember what we talked about. Hiruzen-jiji is a good guy, so-", " **Relax, boy, just do like we practiced. I'll make a good first impression with your precious Hokage, don't worry.** "

Naruto closed his eyes and readied himself. " **Greetings, Sandaime Hokage, my name is Rai; I am the Kitsune currently connected to Naruto Uzumaki.** " The blonde held his eyes closed and copied everything Rai said, word for word. Naruto had a little difficulty with some of Rai's vocabulary, but he did his best to copy it. He opened his eyes when he finished relaying for the kitsune, his smile giving the hokage some semblance of reassurance.

"Hello…Rai. I trust you've been getting along with Naruto?" If Hiruzen had any consolation for his previous encounters with Naruto concerning the tailed-beast, it was that he had been simply talking to the boy himself. Now he was speaking directly to the demon Kyuubi; well, in as directly a manner as was currently possible, and leagues more direct than Hiruzen ever wanted. To say this unnerved him would be an understatement.

Naruto closed his eyes again, " **About as well as anyone trapped in a cage and being forced to listen to this brat go on and on about how cool shinobi are and how much he wants to become Hokage could possibly be.** " Naruto gave an indignant look and said, "Hey, come on, I don't talk about it _that_ much!", but Rai ignored him **.**

Hiruzen had hoped that this was just an elaborate prank devised by Naruto, a hope that was quickly dashed to pieces the more they spoke and Hiruzen heard the child speaking in a way he'd never spoken before. The Hokage tried to appear friendly, yet professional, reminding himself of everything he'd discussed with Inoichi and Shikaku, remembering their assessment of Naruto and this tailed beast. If the beast was going to remain docile, then he supposed he could play along for Naruto's sake. "Naruto-kun can be very eager and energetic. Even I find him to be a bit, overwhelming, from time to time."

" **Indeed, he's annoying, but I admit he's been quite helpful.** **Now, I think its best if I get straight to the point, as much as I enjoy being able to talk to someone other than Naruto.** " This got a frown from Naruto, "Wait, what's _that_ supposed to mean?" Hiruzen shushed the boy and Rai continued. **"I was hoping you could shed some light on my situation. I have questions that I desperately need answers to, and I would be very grateful if you would answer them for me.** "

The old man paused, he wasn't sure how to respond to this at first. He had wanted to believe that what Naruto had said about the beast was true, and now here it was that it may just be turning out to be true after all. Granted, there was only one way to be absolutely sure, but that would require the expertise of the Yamanaka clan. For now, he could at least put his worries to rest. "If you don't mind my curiosity, what sorts of questions would you need answered that you'd need to speak with me specifically?"

" **To put it bluntly… What am I really? Why was I imprisoned? Why does everyone in this village seem to harbor such resentment against the boy?** ", "Hey!" Naruto interrupted, "I thought we already figured out what you were, Rai? You're a Kitsune, remember?" Rai looked down at the boy from within his cage and gave him a deadpan expression, " **You claimed I was a kitsune, and stubbornly insisted that's what I was. I want to hear it from** _ **him**_ **.** " Naruto huffed and folded his arms, "Fiiine…"

Hiruzen had expected the beast to inquire into its imprisonment, but hearing the kyuubi ask about itself, and even ask about the village's ire towards Naruto? ' _Can it be? Does the tailed beast truly have amnesia?_ ' The Hokage wasn't a fool, he was going to make sure of this after he finished here, but this at least put his mind at ease and made it less difficult to compose his words. "Well, that's…a difficult series of questions to answer. They require some additional context before I can address them."

" **And what context would that be?** ", "Are you aware of the significance that this day of the year holds in Konoha?", Naruto butted in to answer, "I explained it to him earlier, Jiji. I told him about the fourth fighting the demon and everything. Why, is there more to the story?" Hiruzen wasn't sure if it was the nine tailed demon asking that last part, but he nodded his head anyway in confirmation.

"Yes, there _is_ a bit more to the story, I'm afraid." Hiruzen was, thankfully, prepared for this part. He'd discussed it with Shikaku and Inoishi the last time they were in his office.

* * *

(flashback)

" _Just assume that Naruto shows up and starts asking questions, we have to have something to tell him that will keep him out of the loop, while convincing him that it's the truth." Shikaku stated. Hiruzen nodded in agreement and Inoichi made a gesture with his hands, "What if we told him a half-truth? Something that isn't entirely the truth, but isn't necessarily a lie? We could sidestep the boy learning the truth of the tailed beast, his role concerning the tailed beast and pacify his inquiries with an elaborate fabrication based on the truth."_

 _Shikaku waited for the other to finish before he said,"Yes, and if the beast did lose his memories,_ it _may believe this as well. We can completely turn this situation around to our advantage."_

 _The Hokage was next to speak, "I believe I have an idea of what I'll say to the boy when he inevitably comes by seeking answers. I will utilize his existing knowledge he thinks he has regarding the tailed beast. If I can gain enough insight into determining if the beast is stable enough for such a thing, I may need a Yamanaka to access the beast's mind and see exactly what we have to work with as far as the monster's memories are concerned.", Inoichi was a bit uncertain, but saw no other way to be sure._

* * *

 _(flashback end)_

" **Tell me, I need to know.** "

Hiruzen Nodded, "Very well."

"As Naruto explained to you, Rai, our fourth Hokage died in slaying a terrible demon that nearly destroyed the village. Everyone in the village knows the tale…" He took out his pipe and carefully lit it as he continued to explain. "There are some details, however, that were omitted from general public knowledge. Those details concern _you,_ Rai."

Naruto was leaning forward, intently listening to the Hokage speak. " **I'm listening…** ", "First, do you remember everything you and Naruto read in the mythology texts? Kitsunes are very real creatures, though people generally don't believe it to be true. To answer your question of what you are…you are what's known as a _Kyūbi no Kitsune_ , a very rare and… _dangerous_ species of kitsune.", Naruto furrowed his brow, trying to think on that revelation. He spoke up with an air of curiosity and concern, "Wait, but…what does that have to do with the demon?" The old man took a smoke from his pipe, "I'm getting to that, Naruto-kun…"

After a brief pause, Hiruzen said, "Naruto, Rai, the truth is: the demon that attacked Konoha, was _also_ a _Kyūbi no Kitsune_." This made both Rai and Naruto recoil. "W-wh…what!? Rai's…but why was _he_ caged up? Didn't the Fourth Hokage kill the one that attacked the village?" Hiruzen acted quickly to take back control and continue the fabrication before the foundation of the lie set incorrectly, "The Yondaime Hokage successfully killed the beast that attacked the village, that event is no different from what everyone else knows. However, a closely guarded secret that very few people know about, is that your friend Rai was…he was discovered nearby, barely a few hours after the incident. We performed a sealing jutsu and imprisoned him."

Naruto shook his head, he looked angry? Upset? "But, but kitsunes can be _good_! I read the books, they aren't all evil, just _some of them_ are! Why did you lock up Rai? He didn't _do_ anything!" The hokage did his best to reason with a Naruto that was quickly becoming distraught, "Naruto-kun, you _have_ to understand, we'd nearly lost our entire village to a violent _Kyūbi no Kitsune_ , we couldn't take the risk that Rai wasn't going to act the same way. We were…we were _afraid_ , Naruto, all of us were. We'd lost loved ones, friends, family, we hadn't-" Hirzuen paused to calm himself and avoid going off on a tangent that would risk unraveling this elaborate lie. "It's truly regrettable what happened to Rai, it really is, but we had no other choice."

Rai snorted aloud in his prison, his fur bristling and his claws digging into the floor. So that was it then? These humans locked him away all because they were _afraid_? Afraid of what he _MIGHT_ do? Rai was being punished for the actions of some _other_ Kitsune? Unacceptable! Rai had half a mind to scream all manner of obscenities at that asinine old fool, but his more rational state of mind reminded him how poorly irrational outbursts had gone for him last time. So he reigned in his outrage, though justified keeping some of his anger.

" **How does Naruto play into this? And what about my memory loss?** " Naruto repeated to the Hokage for Rai.

Hiruzen paused again, "There was an unfortunate accident during your imprisonment… due to circumstances outside our control, when Rai was sealed away, a piece of him latched onto a newborn baby that had been near the sealing site… We weren't aware that the infant was there at the time of Rai's sealing, but...that infant was _you_ , Naruto. Your connection is likely because he has a piece of himself within you, so the two of you are able to communicate with one another. As for Rai's memories, I can best attribute it as an unfortunate side effect of the sealing process. It was…not gentle." The hokage measured the boy's reaction and hoped that he would be able to see the beast's reaction as well, silently praying that this elaborate fabrication would settle in and they would believe it. It had just enough truth to coincide with the true events that took place that night, but enough fabrication to neatly sidestep the truth and protect Naruto. It would also help mitigate the chances of the two uncovering the truth on their own.

The puzzle pieces settled in Rai's mind, taking into account every bit of information he now learned from the Hokage. He scoured over the details and possibilities, and ultimately came to the conclusion that the Hokage's words were truthful. The pieces fit, it helped explain almost everything and the puzzle was nearly complete, well, as far as his origins were concerned. " **And the village's collective disdain for the boy?** "

This was perhaps the easiest to answer, but was also the most painful for the old man, "Rumors; a single rumor started by one man in the right place and time can quickly spread like wildfire. I did my best to prevent Naruto from having to suffer through the grief from such a thing, but the will of the people is beyond my control, as much as it pains me to admit." He took a long puff from his pipe and exhaled before concluding, "My best guess is that some ignorant fool started a nasty rumor about the two of you, Kami only knows what sorts of things they said. There is little I can do about it, I'm deeply sorry, Naruto-kun. I fought as hard as I could to try and keep things a secret, I tried to protect you from all of this, but it was an inevitability… I prefer to believe that the people don't truly _hate_ either of you, but that they're simply afraid and don't know what else to think."

Naruto looked down, trying to process everything the Hokage just told him. So, Rai wasn't just any old kitsune, he was a _Kyūbi no Kitsune?_ That other one though, the evil _Kyūbi_ that attacked Konoha, it must have been terrifying. Naruto had difficulty imagining seeing something like Rai attacking the village, strong, skilled shinobi fighting and being unable to do anything to stop it. He imagined the fourth Hokage fearlessly going out to battle an Evil Rai lookalike, coming to appreciate more the bravery of konoha's greatest hero. Rai was a good person, but…he admitted that Rai _did_ look scary, even when he was trying to look friendly. Though, now his mind turned to Rai's cage, specifically, why did Rai have to be locked in his cage if he wasn't a bad kitsune?

"Hokage-jiji?", "Yes, Naruto?", "Why does Rai have to stay in his cage? What if everyone was wrong about him and he's a _good_ kitsune? It's not fair to just leave him locked up all alone!" Naruto's choice of words had hit Hiruzen particularly hard. Naruto knew full well what it was like being isolated, mistrusted, feared, and it rang in his mind that this was possibly the very reason why he'd been so trusting towards the tailed beast after they met in the first place. ' _Kami, of course that poor child would…_ '

The hokage wiped a hand over his face, gathering his thoughts before he answered the boy. As much as Hiruzen understood where the boy was coming from, he also knew that Naruto had no idea what Rai had done, nor what he truly was. "Well…unfortunately, we had no way of knowing if Rai was…a threat. I'm sorry to say, Naruto, but Kitsunes are rarely considered _good_ creatures. What's worse, with Rai's memory gone, we have no way of knowing for sure. Not then and not now."

Rai immediately spat out, " **So you expect me to just sit in here, locked in this damned cage for the rest of my existence? All over something I possibly had nothing to do with?!** " his anger returned, to put it mildly. Naruto had also carried a bit of anger himself. The boy stood up from the chair and leaned forward, unknowingly raising his voice as he spoke, "Y-yeah! you said it yourself, jiji, they locked him up even though they didn't know if Rai was a good or bad kitsune, it's not fair! You have to let him out, jiji, you _have_ to!"

Rai couldn't help but feel a sense of appreciation, seeing the boy jump to his defense in the way he did. If he wasn't so furious right now, he might have even smiled.

Hiruzen stood up from his own chair and raised his voice with commanding presence, "Now you listen to me and you listen well, Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto immediately shut his mouth and sat back in his chair. Hiruzen used his full name, and he had a very serious look on his face that told the boy it was time to shut up and listen.

Seeing that the boy responded in the way he did made Hiruzen lower his voice back to its normal volume. "As the Hokage of this village, it is my responsibility to ensure the safety of Konoha and all of its people! I cannot simply take _your_ word for it on whether or not Rai can be trusted!" Naruto tried to understand that, but didn't look any less upset, and Hiruzen could only guess at what the beast was thinking.

Hiruzen sighed and sat back in his seat before he eventually added, " _However_ , I am a reasonable man, and I can understand the…nuances of your situation, Rai... Therefor, I'm willing to come to a compromise."

After taking another puff from his pipe, he made a proposition to the kitsune, "I'll put it simply so the both of you can understand. Prove to me that you aren't anything like the _Kyūbi no Kitsune_ that tried to destroy Konoha. Convince me that you're the kind of person Naruto thinks you are. Do that for me, and I will see to it that you are given your fair chance at freedom. It will take time, but it's your only shot at getting out of your prison." Another half-truth, but so far, the boy and the tailed beast had been buying into everything he'd told them.

Hiruzen had no intention of ever letting that monster out, but he wanted the tailed beast to at least _think_ that it could earn its freedom through obedience. The Hokage hoped that, by giving it an incentive to cooperate, he could help Naruto deal with the tailed beast, at least until the boy was old enough to keep it in line himself.

It pained his heart quite heavily to see Naruto defending this vile beast as if it were a friend, and it cut deeper as he saw the irony of it all. The villagers of Konoha rejected this poor boy, and so it was that the monster that had so nearly destroyed Konoha would be the one Naruto would turn to for companionship. He swallowed hard at the bile that rose in his throat, pulling his mind from that toxic train of thought as best he could.

Rai had headbutted the gate, letting out a sigh that rapidly transitioned into a growl and then a cry of outrage. If he wasn't angry before, he was now. This damned human was trying to dictate the terms of his release from an unjustified imprisonment! How _dare_ he? _They_ locked him in this cage unfairly, and now this Hokage person thinks he can demand Rai prove his innocence? _THEY were in the wrong here!_

The kitsune's blood was boiling, and rightfully so. He noticed that the crimson chakra had begun seeping out into the air around him in his cage, and quickly made an effort to dissipate it as he struggled to calm himself, not wanting to have to deal with any more problems due to its malicious influence.

Naruto spoke to him in a concerned tone of voice, "Rai, are you ok?" to which the fox merely nodded in response.

Rai regained control of his temper, and although he was still _quite_ upset at his situation, he could appreciate that he now had all the pieces to the puzzle regarding his origins and could move on to other endeavors now that the picture was complete. Frustrating as it was to be told that he had no hope of freedom under his own power, he at least had an assured freedom sometime in the future, assuming he could "prove himself" to this asinine fool of a Hokage and Naruto. He could work with that, having a firmly established goal post to strive and put effort towards. It was infinitely better than continuing to fish around in the dark, hoping to find some semblance of direction. " **I'm fine, Naruto. I have one last thing I'd like to say to your hokage before we finish here…"**

Besides, even if Rai _did_ want to lash out, there was little he could do in this cage anyway.

Naruto relayed the message to Hiruzen, " **…Fine…if it earns me my freedom, even though you** _ **were**_ **unjustified in sealing me away… I'll do as you ask.** " _ **  
**_

* * *

 ** _Author's Notes:_**

These last several chapters have been a learning process for me, getting used to writing for these characters and figuring out how I could represent them with my own little additions without straying from their core characterizations. I'm a lot more comfortable writing for them now than I was when I first started, and the same should come with the rest of the characters as this story progresses and more characters from the series come into the fold.

I've been fretting incessantly over the meeting sequence with the Hokage. The way Rai was figuring things out, to keep things progressing in a consistent way, it was inevitable that he'd seek out the Hokage and want answers. I don't want Rai to find out the truth so quickly, because I need a reason for him to want to keep cooperating with Naruto besides fluffy stuff that I've already established that he doesn't yet care enough about to consider it as a strong reason to work with him. I unfortunately also started writing myself into a corner. Eventually, I decided that the best thing to do would be to simply charge ahead and hope for the best, because I'm stubborn like that! Hopefully things work out as I intended, and I've written this up in a convincing manner.

The thing I found most challenging was trying to put together how such a meeting would go, taking all the variables into account. I could have simply postponed their meeting, but I didn't want to do that, it's been hinted at and I didn't want to try and think up a BS reason why Rai _wouldn't_ want to immediately speak to the hokage. Oddly enough, the easiest part of writing the meeting sequence was figuring out how Rai would actually go about talking to the Hokage when the only person he could talk to was Naruto.

In the original write up for the discussion between naruto and rai about the meeting with the hokage, I hinted at how I came up with the idea via more detailed and humorous bit of dialogue between Naruto and Rai. I decided to alter things for consistency reasons (Since Naruto is a seven year old and likely doesn't know anything about politics or other languages). The original discussion between Naruto and Rai went something like this:

* * *

A cunning smile crept across the kitsunes face as he answered the boy in a matter-of-factly manner, " **Simple! You're going to represent me.** " Naruto's head slowly tilted as he tried to comprehend what the kitsune said. "you mean, like an amba…am….uh… those people who go to other nations and talk about important stuff?", " ** _What_?**"

Rai shook his head and spoke again before Naruto had the chance to respond, " **What I _mean_ , is that I'm going to speak the words that I want the Hokage to hear, to _you_ , and you're going to repeat what I say to the Hokage.**", " _Oh!_ You mean like those people that follow around the rich foreign lords who can't speak our language and speak for them?" The kitsune cocked his head to the side, ' _What in the world is this brat going on about? Ah, nevermind._ ', he shrugged and rolled with it. " **Sure, like that. You'll say the things I want to say to the Hokage, so he can hear me through you.** "

* * *

Speaking of the meeting, about how Hiruzen told the two of them "the truth", remember, he's made an elaborate fabrication basing it off of what Naruto and Rai read from the library about the mythological creatures called kitsunes, not the Biju (Not sure if kitsunes were a thing in the naruto verse). It was a _sidestep_ , if you will; hiding the real picture within a fake picture. I thought up an elaborate story Hiruzen would use that was close enough to the truth to be believed and to be able to sit nicely alongside the real truth, while also hiding said real truth from them and convincing them that they didn't need to keep searching. The way I see it, Hiruzen wanted to prevent the two of them from knowing the truth, but he needed something to give to the two in order to: 1. satisfy Rai's questions, 2. protect Naruto from the repercussions of knowing the truth 3. safeguard against a spiteful moron spilling the beans

I was really unsure about the meeting sequence, but I ultimately decided to do it so as to move the plot along. I did my best to try and make it rational and believable with the character's behavior. There was a bit of escalation at the end, but I kept it within reason (Naruto is still just a seven year old child, after all.)

During the little foray into the training ground, I added in a subtle nod towards the parallels between Rai and Naruto's perspective on their relationship. Also, I added in some more humor in this chapter.

The sequence for the little questions game between Naruto and Rai, I was originally going to go into more detail about what the two were asking each other, but I decided that that'd probably be pretty boring to read through. I shortened it considerably, since it was only ever meant to act as an opportunity for the two to have some light bonding and as a means for Rai to find his next destination for seeking answers

I almost added in a sequence that brought some character development for "Fox", but I already had a lot going on in this chapter and decided to save it for the next chapter.

Naruto was a mixed bag this chapter, I gave him more development, but I also feel like I went a little too up and down with his emotions at the start. I've established that Naruto is hurting from his isolation, and he pust on a facade of being optimistic and cheerful and pretending like it doesn't bother him. Naruto got the opportunity to learn more about Rai and is seeing the wry-fox as something of a friend now. Also, he has his first set of (crap-tacular) ninja equipment, so he can get a head start with the academy. Naruto has trouble pronouncing some of the larger syllable words, but that'll go away soon enough. He _is_ seven after all.

Rai _thinks_ he's finally learned the truth, and had more development in this chapter. He's still got anger issues, and I hinted again at the crimson chakra being a threat. I'll explain more about the red chakra later on in the story, and I hope you'll like what I have planned. He won't forget about what Naruto did towards the end there, and we'll be exploring that more in the next chapter.

Hiruzen, he's convinced that Rai truly has lost his memories, but he's not going to be taking any chances. Hiruzen isn't a fool, and he remembers all too well the destruction that the nine tailed demon caused. I hinted that he's got just a wee bit of PTSD he's dealing with, considering he came face to face with the monster during its attack on konoha. Honestly, you'd have to be a robot to not have suffered at least a _little_ bit of post traumatic stress after witnessing first hand a giant fox monster wrecking your village and killing shinobi effortlessly. Also, no, he wasn't smoking weed, its more like the shinobi universe equivalent of Alprazolam.

Same deal as always, write a revie and tell me what you think, or shoot me a PM if you want


	9. Chapter 9: First Step

**_Update/rant_  
**

OK, I didn't want to do this for the sake of not coming across as a hypocritical asshole, but I have to say something or else this story **_is going to die._**

I do not handle negative criticism in any good way. It really hurts, it cuts me deep to see folks highlighting the flaws in my work and making no mention of anything that they actually liked about it. You're doing a lot more damage than you might realize.

While **I do value all input** , I have a tough enough time finding the confidence to write for this story anymore as it is. Stating the blatantly obvious flaws in this story is not helping me in the slightest. This is something that was meant to be for fun, not to have every detail scrutinized over.

If you're going to write a review, that's fantastic and I greatly appreciate your feedback. BUT, when you take the time to post a review and have it be nothing but _**criticism?**_

Look, criticism is OK when you provide examples of the things you **_liked_** in addition to the negative criticism, so I have something besides _negative feedback_ to work with.

I've got enough problems to work with without every other review being negative feedback highlighting errors my brain has already slapped me in the face with over a hundred times. **_I get it_** , the story isn't perfect, its not supposed to be, its supposed to be something I do for fun. When I get several messages in a row about reviews, I get excited because somebody gave me feedback, and then to have that be negative feedback is pretty soul crushing for me. This story stops being fun when people keep highlighting the flaws I'm already self-conscious about.

If you care enough about this story to review it, then I beg you, _please_ , just add SOMETHING that you actually _liked_ about the story if you're going to go through the effort to analyze and criticize it. If not, plain and simple, **you are killing this story**.

I'm not saying you can't give negative feedback, what I'm saying is, give me something else to work with besides what you **_didn't like_**. I'm starved for constructive reader feedback, and if this negative feedback continues, I'm going to take steps necessary to keep it out of my sight so I can continue writing. As it is, I've got motivation and self confidence problems enough as it is without opening my email and seeing several reviews and have them be negative feedback.

You can tell me to "grow thicker skin" or whatever ignorant thing you want to say, but I needed to get this off my chest.

I should have chapter ten done before the end of this week, hopefully.

 _ **! Status Update !** **  
**_

This is just an update informing my readers that I am indeed still working on the story. Something came up that put things on hold temporarily, but I'm back on track and full steam ahead. Terribly sorry for the major delay, but it couldn't be helped.

I'm 6k words in and I plan to upload the next chapter once I hit 12k words.

I've run into a few minor issues, but I'm working around them and should have this next chapter done within the next few days

ALso, I have a forum up now, so that I can have more direct contact with the readers. Also, in case this happens again, you'll be kept posted without me having to give updates in a chapter upload.

Check my profile page for the link.

Also, I apologize for the false chapter upload, I panicked and wasn't aware that simply updating a chapter alerted you readers so that you could simply check the updated chapter instead. I uploaded a "new chapter" since I didn't want to wait till I was done with the current chapter (that would have taken too long).

This whole thing has been a learning process for me, and again, I'm terribly sorry for the disappointment from the false chapter upload (it won't happen again),

I'm making the next chapter extra long and adding in some extra stuff that hopefully makes up for it.

 ** _Pre-story AN  
_**

First off, I'm terribly sorry for the delay. I had intended for this to be up last week, but I recently managed to get a part time job and I was working saturday and sunday.

Excuses excuses, I know, but this chapter kinda went through a bit of development hell when I got back to it after work.

I revised a lot of things and couldn't decide on a lot of the sequences, whether I wanted them to go the way I originally had them or not.

Egh, but finally I managed to be satisfied with the end result and post it. I also have a little bit more content in this one due to the extra long wait.

I also want to ask, would you prefer these longer chapters (10k words) or would you prefer shorter chapterd (6-7k words) Let me know in a PM or in reviews.

The reviews have been addressed via PM for the most part, and I don't want to give any spoilers with other reviews being addressed, otherwise I'd have a few to put up here.

As usual, if you like the story, please leave a review or slip me a private message if you prefer. I value any and all feedback, even constructive criticism (just be polite about it)

I'm going to be doing a minor timeskip to help speed things up to get to the academy arc after this chapter, but I'm not sure _how_ I want to go about it.

Should I do it in chunks? Like skip along in months and give summaries of what happened as we go and dedicate a whole chapter or two to events leading up to the academy? Or, should I do a year skip and give a broad summary of what Naruto did and jump right into the start of the academy next chapter? Or maybe something else? Let me know what you think.

* * *

 _Naruto relayed the message to Hiruzen, "_ _ **…Fine…if it earns me my freedom, even though you**_ **were** _ **unjustified in sealing me away… I'll do as you ask.**_ _"_

* * *

The day after Rai's conversation with the Hokage was a busy one for Naruto. There was always an abundance of junk leftover from the October 10th festivities, junk that Naruto could use. He snuck about as best he could, rooting through the various piles of junk that were scattered about the village and hauling back anything useful. The villagers were none too happy with Naruto, though almost all of them turned a blind eye to him due to the fact that he was, technically, making their job of cleaning up the remnant of the festival just a little bit easier.

Naruto managed to gather up a wooden panel, several wooden bits and pieces that he could fit together, as well as a salvageable spool of string to hold said bits and pieces together with. He would use these items in particular to put together a makeshift target for him to throw his shuriken and kunai at.

The boy spent all of the afternoon trying to string together the bits and pieces of wood and set it up against one of the walls of his apartment. Rai had offered a slight bit of help once or twice, but more often than not he would sit and watch Naruto struggle to assemble this amalgamation of wood. It amused him to see the boy's stubborn determination occasionally overcome his ineptitude.

"Aha! That should do it!", Naruto exclaimed with a victorious look on his face. " **That looks** _ **nothing**_ **like the targets we saw at the training grounds.** ", "Close enough!" Rai rolled his eyes at the boy's expression and rested his head in his palm, " **If you say so, it makes little difference to me.** "

His first dozen attempts to hit the target failed spectacularly, as he should have expected. One of his shuriken impacted off of a glass dish and shattered it, very quickly teaching him the lesson that it's not a good idea to leave fragile objects anywhere near where he's throwing sharp metal. Rai's sarcastic analysis of the boy's results also helped drive the point home that Naruto needed to be careful with his shuriken.

Naruto continued practicing late into the evening.

When the light finally faded behind the horizon, Rai insisted that Naruto get some rest and try again the next day, though it took some doing to actually get the boy to listen to him. " **You're only getting** _ **worse**_ **, boy, get some damn sleep before you accidentally ricochet one of those things off your kitchen counter and hit yourself in the eye.** " Naruto folded his arms and stubbornly refused, "I don't _wanna_ , I almost got it! Just one more try!" The kitsune emitted a low growl as he spoke, " **You said** _ **one more try**_ **fifteen times now! Its late, and we both need to get some sleep**."

Naruto, of course, kept at it, "Why do _I_ have to go to bed? Can't you sleep whenever you want to?" Rai countered with mild malice in his voice, " **Because,** _ **brat**_ **, when you don't get enough sleep, you get** _ **more**_ **annoying than should be physically possible.** "

The stubborn boy refused to listen to reason, instead choosing to turn things onto Rai, "You're just being a grouchy kitsune, I'm not _that_ annoying."

Finally Rai had enough of the boy's nonsense and decided to pull out his only real weapon in this situation, " **Well then, I guess if you don't want to get any sleep, I suppose it wouldn't be a problem if I started shouting at the top of my lungs again when you** _ **do**_ **decide to get some sleep in the near future. I'm sure you won't mind, right?** " Naruto popped into view just outside Rai's cage with a mildly panicked look, "You wouldn't…" Instead of saying anything back, Rai gave the boy a devilish grin. "…you would."

Naruto threw his hands up in defeat, "OK, ok! Fine, I'll go to bed now. You win! Just, please don't start that crap again.", " **Glad to hear it.** "

* * *

The next day, Naruto didn't waste any time resuming where he left off in his shuriken practice.

He gathered the shuriken for his hundredth or so attempt to throw them with any semblance of accuracy. This next attempt ended in the same way every other attempt had, with the shuriken going off in random directions as he threw them, ricocheting or embedding themselves into the walls, floor, or ceiling respectively. With an audible growl of frustration, he went to gather the shuriken again. ' _what the heck am I doing wrong? Why won't these stupid shuriken go where I'm aiming?_ '

"Hey, wry-fox, can you-", " **No** ", Naruto waved his arms up in the air in obnoxious fashion, "Oh come _on_ , you said you'd help me with academy stuff!"

Rai had his head resting on his forearms, lazily swishing his tails about. " **Correction, I said if you** _ **needed**_ **my help, I would assist you. As it stands, you don't** _ **need**_ **my help. There's nothing I can do to help you that your instruction scrolls can't do just as effectively.** " He snorted and flicked one of his tails against the bars of his cage for punctuation. " **Therefor, you're on your own for this.** "

The kitsune had been too busy with his own thoughts and didn't have any desire to get involved in something he couldn't find beneficial for his own use. This left Naruto to consult the scrolls and try to figure out for himself what he was doing differently from the guide all on his own. He muttered something about a lazy and grumpy fox, which Rai ignored.

While Naruto had been fumbling about assembling his training target yesterday, Rai took the time every so often to contemplate and go over everything the Hokage had revealed to them. He kept going over and over the man's recollection of the events in his head, mulling it over to see if by any chance he could recall anything prior to his sealing using this new information.

This had continued into today, but unfortunately, his efforts to uncover past events only reminded him why he'd stopped doing that originally. The migraines from his first few weeks awake in this prison returned to greet him and Rai was just as powerless now as he was then to do anything about it. ' _Oh_ _ **joy**_ _, that's back now…_ ', he thought to himself sarcastically.

His migraine lasted for long enough that he decided to take a nap afterwards. The nap didn't last long, as Naruto insisted on bothering him with dumb questions that he could have easily solved if he bothered to take a moment and read through the various books he had borrowed from the library.

Rai was certain that the boy was simply using asking for help as a ruse, and that he actually sought to annoy him. He groaned and swung a hand through the water lazily. There wasn't much he could for the time being, given how adamant Naruto was about training with his throwing weapons.

With nothing else to do, he went back to thinking on the meeting he'd had with Hiruzen.

The Hokage's words were repeating in his mind, the old man had warned them that Rai's existence was a highly guarded secret. However, variations of that secret had managed to spread via rumors across the village despite the Hokage's many attempts to prevent it. These rumors ranged from relatively harmless variants such as the one claiming a benign fox spirit was taking residence within Naruto (or that Naruto _was_ a benign fox spirit in disguise), to legitimately harmful versions that Hiruzen actively fought to counter as best he could… such as the particularly bad one that claimed Naruto himself was the demon fox that attacked Konoha (as asinine a thought as that was, some fools believed it).

* * *

(Flashback)

 _"But why, jiji? If the rumors aren't true, why can't we just tell them the truth?" Hiruzen let out a deep sigh and leaned forward with a sorrowful look, "Because, Naruto-kun… It is much easier to convince someone to fear something than it ever will be to convince them that there isn't anything to be afraid of. It is a sad fact of human nature, we are quick to fear the things we do not understand, but stubborn in our refusal to admit that our fear was misguided. I struggled for years to try and convince this village to think differently about you, I was unsuccessful."_

 _The Hokage dumped the smoldering ashes from his pipe into the waste bin before he added with the same sorrowful tone as before, "Telling them the truth now would only make things worse…it would add fuel to the rumors and would encourage them to be spread further. I'm truly sorry, Naruto-kun, but its best if we leave it alone and let the people believe what they will. In time, we may be able to convince them through your deeds as a shinobi, but I'm afraid there's nothing we can do about things now."_

* * *

(Flashback end)

Rai was understandably upset with the Hokage, but he could at least acknowledged the precarious position the man was in. It didn't excuse or justify Rai's wrongful imprisonment by any stretch of the imagination, but it allowed Rai to calm himself to an extent, just enough to allow for rational thought to take place. Naruto had forgiven the man and had a great deal of faith in Hiruzen's judgement, so Rai _supposed_ he could go along with it… for now. He had no legitimate reason to not believe the Hokage's explanation, even if he fervently disagreed with his judgement. Asinine as he was, the old man _did_ promise to release Rai, and that fact offered a means to channel away some of Rai's ire.

He was eventually brought out of his thoughts by Naruto's voice. "Hey, hey Wry-fox, check it out!" Rai rolled his eyes and lazily replied to the boy with, " **What is it** _ **this**_ **time, brat?** "

Naruto was proudly showing off how he'd managed to successfully hit the target after the hundredth attempt. It was nowhere near the actual "target" but he'd managed to hit the wood that the target had been painted onto. "Pretty cool, huh?"

Rai let out a chuckle in amusement, " **You finally managed to hit the edge of your target after carving up your apartment?** " Naruto was relatively unaffected by Rai's sarcasm.

"I hit the target, that's what matters!" The boy went and gathered his shuriken and stored them in the old leather pouch he now took to wearing. He then pulled out the Kunai and examined it with a grin on his face. Naruto took a heroic pose with his kunai, pretending that he was about to face off against an enemy shinobi. He lunged forward with his kunai and slashed at the air, imagining the threat and attacking it, pretending to parry its attacks in return. It was clumsy and obnoxious, nothing even remotely resembling training.

Rai would have intervened and chastised the boy for wasting time with something so trivial, but he decided to withhold his judgement and let Naruto have his fun. After all, it's not as if the boy would have listened anyway, and Rai didn't have the patience to try and argue with a seven-year-old (that, and the headaches were enough of an annoyance as it was). Instead, he decided to take a nap, a much more productive use of his time.

' _Let the brat have his fun._ '

* * *

(Outside Naruto's apartment)

The Fox masked ANBU kept his eyes and ears focused on Naruto's activity, despite the fatigue that had been plaguing him for the past few days. Ever since he was given the mission to keep watch of Naruto Uzumaki, he had difficulty sleeping. However, the more recent addition to his mission and the things it implied made him reluctant to sleep in the first place.

He couldn't sleep, how could he? If the Hokage himself was spooked enough to assign two teams of four ANBU to watch over the kid, then the threat of the tailed beast within him escaping must have been Fox remembered all too well the night of the attack, as did many of the other shinobi who took part in the village's defense…

Thus, Fox had turned to stimulants to keep himself awake and aware, though he came to rely more and more on them the longer he went without sleep. It was beginning to have repercussions on his health, but he didn't care, as long as he was here to keep watch.

His attention was drawn from Naruto by a tap on the shoulder, followed by a flash of hand signs. The ANBU next to him signaled that the Hokage wished to speak with him, so in a flicker of movement, he bounded off in the direction of the Hokage tower. As much as he didn't want to leave his post, he couldn't ignore the Hokage.

Cat was standing before the Hokage's desk when Fox arrived at Hiruzen's office.

Hiruzen gestured for him to enter, and Fox addressed the village leader as he did so, "Hokage-sama, you wished to speak with me?" The old man had a mildly scornful expression when he spoke in return, "Yes; I'll cut to the chase, since I believe we both know what this meeting is about, Fox."

Cat stood at attention before the Hokage, and Fox soon joined her, casting a glare in her direction from behind his mask. Once Fox was beside Cat, he spoke, "I'm fine, sir, it's not affecting my capability to perform my duties. The mission is more important than my present wellbeing." The man said to assure his leader without hesitation.

Hiruzen shook his head, "We set up the rest rotations for a reason, Fox. I can't have my top recon and observation ANBU suffering from the effects of exhaustion when I need him sharp and attentive. You're only raising the potential for mistakes by pushing yourself harder than necessary and neglecting sleep. I am temporarily-", Fox immediately interrupted, "I'm still well within acceptable limits, sir! I can continue to perform my mission!"

The Hokage gave him a stern look and lightly raised his voice, chastising Fox as he spoke, "No, you are not! You're exhausted, your mental fortitude is suffering as a result, and you're starting to abuse stimulants to make up for your lack of sleep. I may have let this behavior slide before, but I cannot allow you to repeat it, not for this assignment. Your team had specific rotations and shifts with sleep schedules to prevent exhaustion, and you chose instead to push yourself beyond what was necessary."

"Hiruzen-sama, please-", Fox tried to make his case, but the Hokage raised his hand and cut him off mid-sentence, "No, I don't want to hear it. I am ordering you to take temporary leave from the squad formation and the mission in order for you to get yourself some much needed rest; you are no good to this mission suffering from exhaustion to the extent you are currently." Hiruzen paused to take a smoke from his pipe, using it as a form of punctuation. "The situation is no longer as dire as it was before, the remaining team of ANBU will be more than enough for the time being. Go home and _rest,_ Fox, do I make myself clear?"

Fox looked defeated, "… _Hai_ , Hokage-sama…" Cat glanced over at him. Hiruzen nodded his head in confirmation, "Cat, I want you to escort Fox to his residence, afterwards, I want you to deliver this message to Inoichi Yamanaka. Once that is complete you may regroup with your team and resume your previous standing orders." Hiruzen held out a small roll of paper for Cat, she carefully took it and stowed it in a protected front pouch. "Hai, Hokage-Sama, it shall be done."

Hiruzen eyed the two ANBU, before concluding the meeting with the usual, "Dismissed."

Cat put a hand on Fox's shoulder, gesturing with her head after he looked at her. He nodded in response and the two left the Hokage's office through the ANBU entryway.

The Hokage rose from his desk and headed to the door, thinking to himself about how under the previous circumstances he wouldn't have thought twice about ignoring the issue and allowing the recon and observation specialist to continue his duties. However, given what Hiruzen had planned for today, he could afford to allow Fox the opportunity to take time off. He was still reluctant to suspend Fox, even for this short period of time, but with recent events considered, he had the feeling that Fox's presence there wouldn't have mattered all that much regardless.

After a brief journey across the rooftops of Konoha, the ANBU duo eventually found themselves at a little apartment complex tucked away in one of the middle-class districts. Fox and Cat ascended to the second-floor balcony and climbed through the secret entrance Fox had installed to make it easier for him to return home after duty.

Cat moved to flip on the light switch, illuminating the relatively plain, comfortable little apartment that Fox had insisted would be enough for his living quarters. There was a very thin layer of dust to everything, indicating Fox hadn't so much as set foot in the place for at least several days.

Fox slowly removed his mask and set it onto the coffee table at the center of his living room, following suit with his vest and armor components, setting them aside. He eyed his mask as it sat there on the table, it had been a while since he observed it, given how busy he'd kept himself lately. The mask he wore was done up to resemble a cartoon fox character from a comic book series he was a fan of. Cat adored it, and he thought it had the potential to cause enemies to let their guard down upon seeing the cartoonish visage.

He always kept his windows covered and every entrance locked tight and barricaded to prevent entry or observation from anyone who wasn't an ANBU, so he could afford to leave his equipment lying around. ANBU typically never let anyone know their identity, but he and Cat shared a history and it served no real purpose to try and keep their identities secret from one another.

So it came as no surprise to him when Cat removed her own mask in turn, setting it beside the fox mask. "Why the hell did you have to report me to the Hokage? I was _fine_ …", Cat sighed and shook her head at Fox before replying, "You _weren't_ fine, you're _exhausted_. You might have been able to fool everyone else, but you can't fool _me_. I've known you since we were in the academy; that, and I saw you taking all those stimulants."

Fox half closed his eyes at the woman, Cat gave him a smug look. "I warned you this would happen, Jun. Why don't you ever listen to me when I try and help you avoid these situations?", Cat said with a soft ' _I told you so'_ tone of voice, earning a light growl from Fox. "Are we really going to have this argument again, Emika?"

She merely laughed and retorted, "The one where you tuck your tail between your legs and give up a third of the way through because you know I'm right? That argument? I'm more than happy to go five for five if you want, Inuzuka." Jun raised his eyebrows at that in an exaggerated fashion, "You mean I get to choose this time? I happily choose not having the argument and skipping to the part where I pass out on my couch, grumbling, and you make passing remarks about my stubborn nature, thanks."

Emika giggled at his response, "You always were a cowardly dog when it came to arguing with me…and opening up to people." His slitted eyes glanced over her facial features as she stood there, smiling in the soft glow of his living room lights. Inevitably, his eyes wandered to the green markings on her forehead that she had for as long as he could remember, the curse seal as she referred to it. He came back to the radiance of her smile and the way her white eyes shined in the light. Jun couldn't help but admire when Emika smiled, her eyes always had a warm, cheerful shimmer to them, even in the rare instances of her having a serious expression.

It's part of the reason why he'd become so smitten with her, the fact that they'd been childhood friends also helped tremendously. …that, and his former ninken had made every possible attempt it could to help bring them together (much to his annoyance at the time).

Jun let himself laugh before he unceremoniously plopped down onto his couch, feeling himself decompress and emphasizing it with an exaggerated exhale. As much as he didn't want to be away from his post, he had to admit that his mind and body needed this time off.

"You're so beautiful when you smile, you know that?", Jun eventually said, to which Emika rolled her eyes and gave a witty reply. "I _do_ know that, mostly because you remind me every time we're alone. If I didn't find you to be so endearing, it would be annoying." Her voice carried a teasing, playful tone, causing Jun to momentarily cover his face realizing how cheesy what he just said was.

He eventually looked back up at the Hyuuga girl with an expression of longing, "I just…I miss you, ya know? It feels like forever since we had the opportunity to sit down and relax together… and I rarely ever get to see you without that mask on."

"I'm not the idiot that waited until I became an _ANBU_ to admit to their feelings, Jun Inuzuka. I'm also not the idiot that followed me all the way into ANBU themselves like a lost puppy." Emika said with a mildly antagonistic singsong voice, making Jun groan into his couch pillow. "I _knoooow_ , I was an asinine teenager, ok? When are you going to _not_ hold that over my head?"

Emika gave a playful wink before she said, "I'm just glad you finally got that stick out of your ass and actually opened up to me. It's a shame it took you so damn long, especially with al the times I tried to…" She stopped herself seeing the look Jun was giving her. "Sorry, beating a dead horse, I know." She gestured to the entrance after an awkward few moments of silence passed, "I need to go deliver the Hokage's message to the Yamanaka compound, I'll come back to check up on you later, ok Jun?" The Inuzuka gave a grumble in response.

Casually, she scooted over to Jun and leaned down to give him a peck on the cheek before softly speaking near the Inuzuka's ear, "I know we've been busy lately, Jun, but we'll get a chance to have time to ourselves again soon enough, just be patient." Jun gave his response with a wry tone, "Oh, like _you_ have any room to be telling _me_ to be-", though Emika interrupted by gently grabbing his chin and giving him a proper kiss, effectively shutting him up.

Emika grabbed her mask and re-applied it as she headed to the entrance, "Stop worrying so much about the demon brat, we'll be just fine watching the little monster while you get some rest." She gave him a quick, casual wave and swiftly exited the apartment. All Jun could do was make a faint growling sound reminiscent of a canine. It bothered him that she insisted on referring to the kid in such a way, but it wasn't worth getting into an argument over.

Jun rolled over onto his back, reaching and turning on the radio before getting himself comfortable. He tuned in to a casual, soft music channel, something he could sleep to. He had to wait for some time before the stimulants he'd taken would start to wear off enough for him to try and sleep.

Unfortunately for him, he couldn't bring himself to fall asleep no matter what he tried, even after the stimulants wore off. It was largely a result of the same problem he always had, that nine tailed demon's shadow creeping in at him from every corner as he closed his eyes. Emika tried explaining to him that he was just being superstitious and paranoid, that him being there or not being there to watch Naruto really made no difference on whether or not the beast would try to escape.

She meant well, but that didn't make him feel all that better.

He lazily hoisted himself off the couch and grabbed himself a drink and a sleeping pill from his kitchen. Emika had insisted on getting him the things and urged him to start taking them. Jun wasn't a fan of sleeping pills, but given that he didn't have anything else to do and that he'd never get to sleep of his own means, he conceded and popped one into his mouth to swallow.

Jun walked back to his couch and plopped back down. His hand went to the leather string he had tied around his neck, gingerly pulling out the ornament hidden beneath his shirt. Tied to the leather string was a single large canine tooth. He'd kept one of his ninken's fangs and had it fashioned into a necklace as a cherished keepsake to remember her by.

For the most part, he'd kept away from the memory of the night he lost her by keeping himself busy with whatever he could.

His assignment to keep eyes and ears on Naruto Uzumaki and, by extension, the demon fox, helped him with that quite a lot, oddly enough. It had also helped him finally begin to come to terms with his ninken's death. He hoped that if he kept his watch over the nine tails' container, he could at least provide an early warning if the beast ever got loose again. Hence why Jun was so reluctant to let himself take his mind off the mission. He knew he wasn't the only one to lose loved ones that night.

Jun laid back onto the couch and held the fang up into the light, eyeing it and remembering his ninken's voice. "…I hear you, girl, I shouldn't be doing this to myself." He tenderly stroked the fang a few times, before setting it and its leather string onto the coffee table. "Sleep tight, Midori."

Ignoring the fact that it was still daylight out, he closed his eyes and let the sleeping pills work their magic. His one reprieve is that they knocked him out cold when he let them, allowing him to avoid the creeping paranoia he was normally bothered by when he tried to sleep of normal means.

* * *

Cat had reached the Yamanaka complex in record time, beating Fox's record by a small margin. She was so going to rub that in his face later, but for now she had to focus on the task at hand.

She respectfully handed off the written document to the Yamanaka clan head, waiting patiently for the man to read over the document. He rolled up the paper after he finished and politely said, "Thank you, please inform Hiruzen-sama that I will meet him at Naruto Uzumaki's residence shortly." Cat nodded in response, " _Hai_ , it shall be done." And she left in a flicker of movement, heading to find the Hokage to report in before she returned to her team.

Cat entered the Hokage's office, but Hiruzen was nowhere to be found.

Sighing to herself, she hopped out onto one of the rooftops near the Hokage tower and perched at the edge. She activated her Byakugan and scanned around Konoha, quickly acquiring Hiruzen's location atop the Hokage mountain. She deactivated her dōjutsu before ascending to meet him. In hindsight, she could have just checked there in the first place and not had to activate her dōjutsu, but, as Jun regularly pointed out to her whenever they were off duty, she wasn't known for her patience.

Hiruzen was seated at one of the more popular spots on the mountain overlooking Konoha. It was one of a few places he frequented for his breaks. It provided a stunning view of the village and helped keep things in perspective for him.

The Hokage was first to speak, once Cat landed next to him, "Back so soon? I was expecting you to have taken a few extra minutes.", he said with a knowing smirk. Cat remained professional, even though she recoiled lightly in her mind at the not so subtle implications, "No, Hokage-sama, my only concern was my assignment."

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, the smirk still on his face, and said, "Is that right?" Nevertheless, Cat gave her report, "The message has been delivered, Hokage-sama. Inoichi Yamanaka will meet you at the de- at the boy's residence." Hiruzen nodded in response with a soft hum.

The Hokage let out a light groan as he hoisted himself up off the ground, taking a brief moment to dust himself off before he said, "Thank you, Cat, you may resume your previous duties." Before cat could reply or acknowledge him, Hiruzen performed a _Shunshin_ and was gone from sight.

Her task complete, she turned to look out at the village for a brief moment. ' _Nothing left to do but to return to watching the demon brat.'_

* * *

" **Congratulations, brat, you managed to destroy your interior wall** _ **and**_ **punch a hole in your exterior wall. Color me impressed.** " Rai's sarcasm surprisingly managed to help ease the situation on account of Naruto immediately drawing attention to the thought of, "What the heck kind of color is _impressed_ supposed to be? I thought you were red and orange?"

Rai rolled his eyes at Naruto's response, " **It's an expression, boy.** ", the kitsune said in a neutral tone.

The situation in question, was of course, tied to Naruto's decision to fool around and play pretend with a real kunai. He'd done a flying lunge strike aimed at the wall, the same wall that had been mercilessly pelted with hundreds of failed shuriken throw attempts. The wall was worn down enough that he had effortlessly gone through the compromised dry-wall and pierced through the outer wall of his apartment. It wasn't a _big_ hole in the exterior wall, but it was still a hole in the part of his apartment that was supposed to keep out the elements. Naruto had panicked and awoken an irate Rai from his nap, frantically explaining the situation to the kitsune in hopes that he'd be able to help.

Even if Rai had wanted to help, he hadn't the faintest idea how to fix the boy's wall.

Naruto looked over the damage and peered through the hole, letting out a growl of frustration. He couldn't afford to pay someone to fix this (assuming he could find anyone willing to help him), and he had no idea how to fix drywall on his own, or even what drywall was for that matter. Insulating material, the exterior wall's material, all things the boy didn't know. All he knew for certain was that he had a hole in his wall now and he had no way to fix it. " **So, our lesson for today would be: don't use your wall as a post for your shuriken target. Also, don't play around with real kunai.** ", Rai said with an antagonistic tone, though instead of catching it and being indignant about it, Naruto agreed with the kitsune, "Yeah, no kidding… I'll have to set up a wooden panel or something to cover it."

Rai gave the boy a blank look for a moment, then decided to go along with it. " **I suppose I was wrong in thinking you were smart enough to figure out that you weren't supposed to play around with real weapons.** " He said this to Naruto with a smug look, intentionally trying to get a rise out of the boy to drive the point home. The last thing Rai needed was this idiot fooling around and accidentally gutting himself with the kunai he'd helped him acquire.

That would be an incredible dose of irony though.

The resentful look Naruto gave him indicated that the point successfully landed, and the boy wouldn't forget this tidbit of wisdom anytime soon. Perfect. "Hey, I was just-" but before he could finish, there was a knock at the door that interrupted Naruto's train of thought.

Without hesitating, Naruto went to the door and opened it. "Oh, hi Hokage-jiji, what are you doing here?" The Hokage smiled at the boy and said, "I just thought I'd drop by to see how you were fairing. Everything alright?" Naruto smiled back and nodded, though Rai insisted that Naruto relay a message to Hiruzen. "Oh, jiji, Rai says Hi.", " **That's** _ **not**_ **what I said, brat.** " The Hokage mustered a greeting for Rai as well; Rai growled in annoyance.

Hiruzen looked past Naruto for a moment and raised an eyebrow at the sight before him. "Naruto-kun, do you mind telling me what all this is about?", gesturing to the objects behind him and the kunai still in his hand.

Naruto glanced back at his makeshift target and the two shuriken still stuck in the wood, and the obvious hole in his wall on top of all the damage he'd done to his apartment. The realization hit him, and he looked back at Hiruzen with a panicked expression, quickly hiding the kunai behind his back. The old man merely gave a soft laugh and a nod of understanding, "I should have expected as much from you."

Naruto tilted his head ever so slightly with a confused look, "You aren't…mad?" Now it was Hiruzen's turn to look confused, though admittedly he was only trying to offer a subtle reassurance to the boy with the expression, "What would I have to be mad about?"

Naruto sheepishly gestured with his hands to the damage he'd done to his apartment, and the shuriken imbedded into the wooden target. Hiruzen waved it off with his usual demeanor, "All part of an eager young shinobi in the making who simply couldn't wait another year to join the academy. Nothing wrong with that." In truth, Hiruzen was a little bit displeased with Naruto having acquired weapons before he was legally allowed to have them. However, given the much more important issue at hand, he'd let this petty infraction slide.

There would be plenty of time to speak with the boy about weapon safety and the like _after_ the issue concerning Rai had been handled once and for all.

Hiruzen stepped inside Naruto's apartment, raising an eyebrow upon seeing how much disrepair the boy's apartment was suffering from. He had tried to ensure there would be a caretaker to keep things from getting this bad, but they rarely stuck around for any significant period of time once they figured out who it was they were supposed to take care of. Judging by the apartment's overall appearance and the smell permeating the air, the most recent caretaker likely abandoned the job several weeks ago and never bothered to say anything, just like the others.

"Hokage-jiji, who's he?" Naruto said, with a finger outstretched and pointed at the ash-blonde haired individual that had just arrived. Hiruzen quickly introduced him to the boy, "Ah, right on time. Naruto, I'd like to meet Inoichi Yamanaka." Inoichi gave a polite greeting to the boy, Naruto simply blinked at Inoichi and looked back to Hiruzen. "Is he your friend or something?"

Inoichi glanced at Hiruzen before looking back at Naruto and saying, "Not exactly, but I work for him." Hiruzen added, "You can trust Inoichi, Naruto-kun. He's here to try and help your friend Rai with his memory loss." That of course was an elaborate fabrication of the truth, but it was a fabrication that immediately got Rai's attention, and that Naruto believed. "You can think of me like a doctor for your mind."Inoichi said with a tap to his temple to provide emphasis.

" **How exactly does he plan on doing that, when I'm stuck in this cage in who knows where?** ", Naruto shrugged and shot back, "How should I know that? I just met the guy." This of course made Inoichi double take and look to the Hokage. Hiruzen turned his head to Inoichi, seeing his apparent confusion, and said, "I believe Naruto is speaking to the kitsune."

After a brief bit of small talk to help Naruto be more comfortable with having Inoichi in his house, they addressed the reason for them being there. Naruto was given an explanation of what they were going to do, though they had to stop and try again with a simplified version after seeing the boy's confused expression.

"So…the blonde guy is gonna go into my mind using a fancy jutsu, and then go into Rai's mind from there?", Naruto had asked. Hiruzen voiced his mild disapproval to Naruto for addressing Inoichi as _the blonde guy_. Inoichi paid it no mind though, unfurling the inscribed scroll he prepared for this procedure. "Essentially, you're going to be like a bridge. I'm going to place this scroll onto your bed; what I need you to do is lay your head on it, right in the center of these patterns."

Hiruzen tried to reassure him that he had nothing to worry about, though the boy was still uneasy about having someone messing around in his head. It was one thing to have Rai seeing and hearing through Naruto's eyes and ears, he really wasn't sure what to think when it came to having someone actually reading his mind. The entire concept made his head spin, and even Rai had a bit of trouble wrapping his head around the concept.

Nevertheless, Naruto climbed into his bed and laid his head onto his pillow. With a little guidance from Inoichi, he positioned his head into the middle of the scroll and its symbols as requested.

Once Naruto was in position, Inoichi raised his hands and performed a few hand signs before saying a phrase Naruto didn't understand. Naruto guessed was a jutsu by how it was pronounced, and the fact that his head started to feel funny afterwards.

"Now, all I need you to do is bring yourself to wherever it is you go to see the kitsune. I'll follow you there."

* * *

A few moments later, Inoichi stood beside Naruto in a dimly illuminated series of corridors connected by a large, looming hallway. The grim appearance of this mindscape made Inoichi wince, ' _I would never have expected to see such a foreboding mindscape, not from a child.'_ Naruto looked around quizzically, "huh, that's odd, usually I just appear in front of the gate."

"perhaps it's because I followed you in this time?" Inoichi's voice made Naruto turn, and jump upon seeing the man in his mindscape. "Whoa, how did you get in here?" Inoichi simply stated, "My clan specializes in mind related jutsus. Let's not lose focus though, can you show me to the Kitsune's cage?"

Naruto shrugged and eagerly replied, "Yeah, sure! Its…uhh…" He had a look of embarrassment for a moment, before cupped his hands to his mouth and shouting, "Hey, Wry-Fox, which direction is it to your cage again?"

From the distance, they heard the bellowing retort, " **For the hundredth time, brat, just follow the main hallway in the same direction you're facing when you enter this place! It's never changed, you always appear facing the direction of my cage, you** _ **know**_ **this.** " Inoichi was startled by the thunderous sound that the voice made through the hallway, but Naruto simply started walking in the direction it came from before it had finished speaking. "Thanks!", the boy shouted in the direction the booming voice came from. Naruto made his way down the hall with a slightly shaken Inocihi in tow.

The man still wasn't entirely confident in this idea, but he reassured himself that the beast had given every sign that it was not the same beast that attacked Konoha, metaphorically speaking. Inoichi would have much preferred a gradual psychoanalysis over this direct approach, but he and Shikaku both were becoming more uneasy the more time passed under these current conditions.

So here he was, about to come literally face to face with the nine tails, and quite possibly delve into the beast's mind.

When the hallway ended and he came to the massive gate, he was momentarily awestruck by the construct. Though that moment almost immediately passed when movement from within the cage drew his attention from the gate. The hair stood up on the back of his neck and he gulped hard after he heard it speaking. " **Naruto, who is- wait, you're the man from a few moments ago, aren't you? How are you** _ **here**_ **?** " The nine tails addressed him directly, and its presence was nothing short of intimidating, even despite the confused look that it currently held.

The beast was lazily lying on the floor of its cage, one hand supporting and holding its head up off the ground. Its slitted red eyes seemed to look right _through_ Inoichi, as cliché as that was. It was a very unsettling feeling that he experienced, finding himself looking upon the demon fox of October tenth and having it look straight back at him.

Inoichi cleared his throat and greeted the nine tails with as calm a demeanor as he could muster, "Greetings, Rai. I am Inoichi Yamanaka; Hiruzen-sama introduced me to Naruto, am I safe to assume you were in attendance during my conversation with the boy?"

The nine tails nodded, " **I was, though I didn't know you'd be coming** _ **here**_ **.** " Inoichi politely responded, "Its complicated, but suffice to say, I specialize in jutsus attributed with the mind."

Rai smirked and gestured with his free hand as he spoke, " **Yes, I can see that... I must say, it's refreshing to be able to speak with someone other than this annoying brat for once.** " The kitsune ignored the boy's indignant response, though Inoichi found himself distracted by it.

Naruto muttered under his breath something that made Rai give an amused snort.

Inoichi blinked and turned his attention back to the tailed beast, though that little sequence had helped reduce the tension he felt. He recalled Hiruzen's report on the interaction he had with the kyuubi previously, and had been hoping for similar interactions with the nine tails. Despite this, he was still surprised at how casual the beast was being.

"I have a series of questions I'd like to go over with you before I attend to the main reason for my being here. Do you mind?" The nine tails shrugged and said, " **I don't see why not, ask your questions**."

' _Well its good to see that the beast is as cooperative as the reports suggested._ ', Inoichi thought to himself before he proceeded to ask his questions of the fox.

"First and foremost, what are your thoughts on the village hidden in the leaves?"

Rai furrowed his brow and cocked his head to the side, " **The** _ **what**_ **?** " The ashen blonde haired man reiterated, "Konoha?" After this, the kitsune lowered his head and gave Inoichi a half lidded look, " **You couldn't have just said that in the first place?** "

Inoichi gave a sheepish gesture and apologized, though the kitsune waved it off. " **To answer your question: Konoha is the place that this brat here lives; anything more than that knowledge is of no interest to me.** " This made the man raise his eyebrows in surprise, "Truly? You're that passive about Konoha? Even considering…"

Rai interjected, " **Considering they wrongfully imprisoned me? Of course I'm angry about that, furious really.** " Naruto folded his arms and sided with Rai, though Inoichi ventured forward with the critical question, "If you were to be free today, what woul-"

The kyuubi interrupted with a smug look, " **Would I attack your asinine little village? No, I wouldn't actually. The first thing I would do upon these gates being opened is get the hell out of wherever this place is. Afterward I'd seek out additional information regarding my past, possibly seek out other kitsunes if I could locate them, assuming your species didn't imprison the rest of them like you did with** _ **me.**_ "

Naruto had a look about him when he remarked to Rai's statement, "Wait, what about _me_ , you'd bring me with you, right wry-fox?" This made Inoichi wince at the implications, it was difficult to imagine that the boy honestly wanted to run away with the nine tails… though given that Naruto didn't know what Rai really was made the implications a bit less damning for how Naruto felt towards Konoha's residents.

The kyuubi looked away for a brief moment before saying, " **Well**... **I wouldn't just abandon you, boy…** " This minor reassurance was enough for Naruto, though Rai brought up a valid point. " **I thought you wanted to become the Hokage and get these fools in your village to acknowledge you? How would you do that if you ran off with _me_?**" Naruto shrugged and looked away, "I don't want you to leave though...I mean, I don't want you to have to stay in that cage, but...you know." Inoichi continued with his questions after an awkward pause. "You would simply forgive and forget our transgressions against you, Rai?"

Rai was frankly insulted by the question and everything it implied, " **What are you trying to say, Inoichi Yamanaka? Are you imbeciles of Konoha so paranoid that you think I'd throw away my freedom in some petty act of vengeance? I have no idea how you lot managed to imprison me in the first place, why in the hell would I** _ **return**_ **to the residence of the people that imprisoned me? Do you think I'm stupid? Or… do you think I'm some mindless beast like the monster that attacked your village?** "

The kyuubi's fur was bristling with an anger that was radiating through the entire room. Rai's words were ice cold and his eyes shot daggers at Inoichi (and the village by proxy). The man raised his hands up defensively, "That's not- I certainly don't think you're stupid, and I don't think-", Rai interrupted again, " **I'm fairly certain that's** _ **exactly**_ **what you think, you and every other asinine human that lives in that village of yours. You treat the brat the same way you'd treat _me_. I'm not stupid, I've seen it with my own eyes-**"

Rai would have gone off into a rant had Naruto not intervened, "Rai, Inoichi-san is here to _help_ you, remember? Why would he come here to help if he really thought you were a monster like the other Kyuubi?" This made the kitsune stop abruptly and his ear twitched in response; the brat had a very valid point, surprisingly enough, and he eventually began to calm himself despite how badly he wanted to chew out the man as a stand-in for the villagers. There had been another flare up of the crimson chakra again, and Rai hadn't realized it at the time. Both Inoichi and Rai were quite thankful for Naruto's timely interruption, though for entirely different reasons.

After a short amount of awkward time had passed, the kyuubi raised a hand to his face and pinched the bridge of his snout between his eyes, " **My** _ **apologies**_ **, Inoichi, please continue with your questions…** " Inoichi wiped the sweat from his brow, he'd handled dangerous ninja before, but this tailed beast decisively outclassed them by a considerable margin. He was very thankful for the impenetrable sealing gates being between himself and the beast.

"Have you tried remembering anything prior to being imprisoned here?", the man eventually asked. Rai shook his head slowly, " **I don't do that anymore, it always gives me a nasty migraine when I try to make myself remember. I often suffer from mild headaches as it is when I contemplate, but those are nothing compared to the migraines.** " Inoichi nodded and made a mental note of that.

"I see, I now have a relatively minor question to ask… it's about your name. If you don't mind my curiosity, did you choose the name "Rai", or did you remember your name by any chance?" The Kyuubi laughed at the change in direction the conversation had gone. " **Ah, that… The name was chosen for me, despite my desire to not be named.** " He pointed a claw to the boy and gestured with his head in addition to that, " _ **This**_ **brat here decided to start calling me "Wry-fox", and then derived "Rai" from that. I didn't like it, but it stuck.** "

The ashen blonde raised his eyebrows and gave an acknowledging hum, "Do you know what your name means?" Both Naruto and Rai shook their heads, though Naruto pointed out that he hadn't given it much thought, he just wanted something cool to say when addressing the kitsune.

Rai had a less than amused look upon Inoichi informing them both what the name meant and implied, slowly turning his head to glare at the boy before he spoke, " _ **Lightning and Thunder**_ **? You named me after an** _ **electrical storm**_ **?** ", Naruto responded with a tone of resentment, "Hey, I didn't _know_ that's what that meant, OK!? I just went with what sounded cool!" Rai growled and dragged his free hand over his face, " **This is precisely why I didn't want** _ **you**_ **to pick my name!** ", Naruto threw his hands up into the air in exaggerated fashion, "Yeah? Well _Your_ names all sucked! If you came up with cooler names, you wouldn't have to worry about it!"

Inoichi stepped back and silently observed the back and forth between the boy and the kyuubi. He forgot to mention the third meaning behind the name: _Trust_.

He couldn't decide if that was a funny coincidence or ironic.

The man was significantly calmer about all of this than he had been when he first entered the boy's mindscape. The dynamic between these two was quite fascinating to observe, and somewhat amusing. Inoichi was much more optimistic about the metaphorical idea that this kyuubi was _not_ the same entity that attacked Konoha, but he had to make absolutely sure this was the case.

He decided to shelve his other questions for later, holding up a hand and stepping forward to interrupt the argument between the kyuubi and Naruto. "If I may interrupt, I have something I need to do and I'm starting to run short on my time available to do it."

Rai and Naruto looked at Inoichi, then briefly glared at one another before Naruto turned away with his arms folded. " **Speak, Inoichi, what is it you need to do?** " Rai said, choosing to ignore Naruto's exaggerated mannerisms.

"I would like to look into your mindscape and see if I can access any of your memories.", and before Inoichi could get into the specifics, Rai immediately replied with, " **Do it.** "

He was momentarily taken aback by how eager the nine tailed beast was. This all but confirmed it in Inoichi's mind, now all he had to do was confirm it "officially". The man stepped forward, closer to the gate, before gesturing for Rai to lower his head down to his level.

' _Well, here goes…_ ' Inoichi thought to himself with a hardened resolve. He was _still_ unsure about doing this, but he at least had the reassurance that this beast before him was cooperating.

He spoke the words of his jutsu, and held his hands in the handsign as before.

* * *

Inoichi was equally parts appalled, shocked, and fascinated by the chaotic mess he saw before him. He had prepared himself for the possibilities of what he'd find in the nine-tails' mind, but even despite that he was still shocked. In all his years of doing this, he had only ever seen one other instance of a mindscape being of even remotely similar a state, and the individual it belonged to had been comatose at best.

By all intents and purposes, Rai should have been in a coma with how damaged his mindscape was. There were literal shreds of memory floating along in the air, or getting caught in an intangible turbulence as they passed through literal voids where parts of Rai's mindscape were simply _missing_. There were pits and tears throughout the surfaces of the mindscape in many places, the bits of memory that had no core or sphere to attach themselves to would stretch and distort as they passed over, aimlessly floating about like leaves on the wind, or more accurately, torn documents caught in a turbulent river. To the left, there was a massive scar, hideous and mangled, where it seemed as if someone had torn an entire section of the Kyuubi's mindscape out.

If this had been a human mind he was venturing into, he'd have written them off as a lost cause and been done with it. As it stood, it was verified that Rai did indeed have amnesia, and it astonished Inoichi that that was the _only_ mental condition Rai suffered from. It was no surprise at all that Rai experienced migraines when he tried to access his memories.

The only undamaged memory sphere Rai had was sitting alone at the focal point of the mindscape. Inoichi cautiously ventured towards it so as to access its contents.

Contained within this memory sphere was the Kyuubi's memories after waking up within the prison, and there was nothing in this sphere that connected to any events prior. It appeared that this sphere served as Rai's current memory core.

Ordinarily, an individual's mind would have traces between memories that their mind could follow in order to put itself back together. There would be multiple "spheres" of allocated memories and events, but they relied on being connected to a "core" to be properly accessed. Even if a sphere became damaged or otherwise inaccessible (such as in cases of amnesia), normally you could put things back together and use the memory traces to piece things back to the way they were and eventually overcome the damage done. Of course, this didn't always work, such as in cases where the memory traces and links had been severed. It was still technically possible to recover with the proper stimulus reactivating these connections, _possible_ , but unlikely.

In Rai's case, there wasn't a chance in hell that he'd be able to access anything concerning events prior to his sealing under his current condition. There wasn't a single memory trace linked to the undamaged core memory, nor were other memory spheres connected. Even if he had the right stimulus to reactivate the links, there was no guarantee that he'd be able to regain all of his memories.

As for information, that worked a bit differently. Inoichi wasn't so concerned with _that_ , though he did a quick check for specific bits of information to make sure that there wasn't anything that would lead to strife down the road.

Inoichi's attention was yanked away from his current task when he felt a presence bearing down on him with an aura of killing intent. A quick glance immediately confirmed what this presence was, as the old, damaged memories started rapidly vibrating and shaking. A crimson cloud of half gaseous, half liquid substance had begun pooling and collecting along the outer edges of Rai's mindscape, surrounding Inoichi from a distance. This very obviously established itself as the source of the oppressive aura.

' _This must be a defense mechanism left over from the kyuubi's previous self…_ ' Not wanting to find out what this crimson substance would do next, Inoichi decided he'd gotten what he came for, and that it was time to leave.

He would worry about his theories and what to tell the Kyuubi once he was safely out of its mind and away from this malicious cloud of red.

* * *

" **You're back, what did you find?** ", Rai wasted no time in immediately asking once the ashen blond returned to the exterior of his cage. Naruto also looked expectant, being almost as eager for answers as the kitsune was.

Inoichi took a moment to collect himself and elaborate on a few theories before he came up with a proper response. "Well, my diagnosis has gathered a lot of information that I'll need to analyze and discuss with the Hokage before I can-", he was interrupted by the loud bang of Rai's open palm impacting into the floor. Given his size, it had made a much bigger sound than he was likely expecting.

" **No, unacceptable.** **I want a summary of what you know at the very least and I am not going to wait until** _ **after**_ **you've discussed it with that asinine old man before I hear it.** " Rai had a very impatient demeanor about him, and Inoichi decided that simply leaving was out of the question. He had to give the Kyuubi something to go on, or else it would cause unnecessary repercussions. Naruto of course was none too pleased with the Kyuubi's behavior, though Rai ignored the boy's criticism.

After a brief bit of thinking it over, Inoichi eventually gave Rai a summary of his discoveries, with certain elements redacted of course. "You've suffered a traumatic event, Rai, something unexpected and unprecedented. Your mindscape is…heavily damaged, far beyond anything that could reasonably happen from a sealing jutsu, even if said sealing jutsu were to go wrong. My best guess is that something occurred prior to your imprisonment, something that caused catastrophic damage to your mindscape in a way I've never seen before. What that "something" is exactly, is beyond my best guess. I'm sorry." Rai huffed at the man's apology and explanation both, " **So you're absolved of at least a small portion of my ire, convenient. What am I able to do to regain my memories then? Can you fix the damage?** "

Inoichi shook his head with a solemn look, "Given the extent of the damage, I'm afraid we'd risk doing more harm than good if we tried to meddle with your memories. Additionally, there seems to be a hostile presence that attacks anything that tries to interfere with your mind, likely a defense mechanism your subconscious instinctively crafted to defend itself in your vulnerable state." Naruto was very confused by all of this, but the kyuubi seemed to understand and accepted the explanation to an extent.

Rai was disappointed, but the additional understanding that this provided him would be helpful in the long run. " **What about my headaches? Can you do anything about those?** ", "Now _that_ , I believe I can easily fix for you." Inoichi's optimistic response made the Kyuubi crack a smile and give an expression of relief. " **Thank the heavens… It will be nice to not have to walk on eggshells every time I want to simply contemplate something.** "

"I can imagine that's incredibly frustrating." Inoichi said, to which Rai gave the response of, " **You have no idea…** "

* * *

Inoichi exited the boy's mindscape a short time later, relaxing his posture with a sigh. Hiruzen looked to the ashen blonde man expectantly, Inoichi in turn looked to Hiruzen and nodded. "So that's it then?", "Yes, Hokage-same I'll compile my diagnosis and meet you back at your office once I've finished."

Naruto came to a few minutes after Inoichi left, "That was weird…", " **I'm inclined to agree.** " Hiruzen chuckled and took a seat at Naruto's kitchen table. "So, Naruto-kun, how have you been progressing with your academy preparation?" This instantly got the boy's attention, "Its awesome! I can already hit the target with my shuriken, and Rai and I've been working on hand signs and-" Hiruzen held a hand up with a smile on his face, "Easy Naruto, no need to blurt everything out all at once." He gestured with that same hand over to the target, "Why don't you demonstrate for me, maybe I can give you a few pointers?"

The boy had a big grin on his face, practically running to the target before grabbing the metal stars from the wood. The Hokage noted in his mind that the distance between Naruto and the target was miniscule, and any practice the boy got here would only help him with form and style. He didn't need to know this though, as he seemed to be having fun with it and it was harmless in the grand scheme of things.

However, Hiruzen did need to educate the boy on safety regarding handling these weapons, that much was blatantly obvious by how carelessly he handled them.

* * *

(Hokage's office, evening)

Inoichi, Shikaku and Hiruzen were seated in the Hokage's office, going over the results of Inoichi's diagnosis.

"So you legitimately believe that the nine-tailed beast currently taking up residence in Naruto Uzumaki _isn't_ the same monster that attacked the village on October tenth?", the Nara clan leader said in disbelief after a minute of silence. "I don't mean _literally_ , but metaphorically speaking, Rai is not the same creature that nearly destroyed Konoha.", Inoichi clarified.

Hiruzen took up his pipe once again, though he was noticeably calmer about the matter concerning the Kyuubi. "You were able to confirm that the Kyuubi does indeed have retrograde amnesia, that's what's important."

Inoichi recalled what he saw in the Kyuubi's mindscape with a chilled expression, "I'm still greatly concerned with the state of the Kyuubi's mindscape… It was nothing short of horrific." Shikaku laughed and patted his friend on the shoulder, "It's a damn tailed beast, Inoichi, of _course_ it's mind is going to be-", the Yamanaka gave him a look that made him stop.

"That's _not_ what I meant.", the man said with a mildly irritated tone. Hiruzen raised his eyebrows at Inoichi's demeanor, "You mentioned in your report that the Kyuubi's mindscape was deeply troubling, and we can more than understand why you would be distraught. My question is, why do you keep bringing it back up as if we're misunderstanding your report?"

Inoichi was beginning to show frustration by their lack of understanding, "Because of the _state_ of the Kyuubi's mind. Hokage-sama, it looked like someone had taken the mindscape and _tore it in half_. If Rai were a human, he would have been comatose!" He'd gotten both of their attention now, and hopefully made them understand what the issue was.

"Wait…wait a minute, what are you saying? Is the Kyuubi brain damaged?" Shikaku asked, which made Inoichi eye him with a scornful look, "Did you bother to _read_ my report?"

Both Shikaku and Hiruzen sheepishly shifted the papers in their hands. Admittedly, both of them were more concerned with the results than they were with the psychological analysis. Hiruzen had done more reading that Shikaku, but the point still stood.

Inoichi huffed and folded his arms, "I understand why you'd value the results more than the diagnostic itself, I don't blame you for your urgency, but _please_ read through the whole document. There is an important element here that I cannot ignore, and neither should you." It amused Hiruzen to see that Inoichi was making a point to avoid levying these accusations at him, and instead directed them at Shikaku.

After a pause to read over the report in greater depth, Hiruzen raised the question, "There was a crimson entity present?" Inoichi once again had to clarify once again, "I believe it was chakra that was trying to purge me in some form of defense. It began to manifest itself in the visage of the Kyuubi, but was much more visibly aggressive in appearance and radiated killing intent."

This made both Shikaku and Hiruzen give a look of confusion and concern. Shikaku spoke after a bit of thinking, "Do you think that might be a remnant of the old kyuubi? Maybe because Rai can't associate himself with those old memories, a piece of the kyuubi separated and manifested itself?" Inoichi scratched his chin at the theory, "that's…I _suppose_ that could explain it, but more than likely, it's an echo of the old personality."

Hiruzen stopped mid smoke, "I beg your pardon?"

The Yamanaka put forth serious effort to properly articulate himself without delving too much into complex psychology terms. "Basically, in cases of extreme mental trauma and, in Rai's case, amnesia, there is sometimes a residual echo of who the person _used to be_. This echo resides within a portion of the individual's chakra. It differs from split personality in the sense that this echo isn't a full personality: it's a raw, mindless amalgamation of emotional output and basic functions." Both Shikaku and Hiruzen were intently listening to the explanation with bated breath.

Inoichi continued, "I noticed that Rai exhibited elevated aggression and hostility in conjunction with an emission of crimson chakra. I theorized that the entity that came close to attacking me in the Kyuubi's mindscape was the very same chakra emission, and that it was an echo of the old kyuubi." He raised his hand to hold off the questions he knew would come next, "As I stated previously, it's an amalgamation of residual emotional output and stimulus response. It's troubling, but shouldn't be a threat so long as Rai doesn't seek it out, which, coincidentally, seems to be the case. I saw several instances where Rai outright rejected the crimson chakra's influence at every turn and generally had a less than positive outlook on its existence, which I observed when I peered into its only undamaged memory sphere."

Shikaku couldn't help but laugh at the irony, "So, the new Kyuubi hates the old kyuubi, go figure." Inoichi looked less amused though.

Hiruzen tapped his pipe onto his desk to get their attention, "This still begs the question, how do we proceed? The Kyuubi has retrograde amnesia and it's mindscape is going to provide a great deal of mitigation to its attempts to regain any of its old memories. Furthermore, it doesn't necessarily show any immediate aggressive intent towards Konohagakure." Hiruzen paused to take a smoke from his pipe before he finished off with, "Given the facts, I feel we can safely do what's best for Naruto without having to worry about any danger to the village."

Inoichi and Shikaku both nodded, though Shikaku smiled and said, "Looks like our gamble paid off. Still not buying a lottery ticket though."

* * *

(Hokage monument, evening)

Naruto sat atop the Hokage monument, looking out onto the village. He'd asked Rai to join him, and the kitsune didn't have anything better to do. " **Ok, I admit it, the view _is_ kind of nice.**" Naruto smiled and nodded in agreement, "Told ya so, best view in Konoha! You should see it when the sun rises, its really amazing.", " **I'll take your word for it**."

"So...Rai, would you really bring me with you if you got out of that cage?" The kitsune shifted at the question, choosing his next words carefully, " **Yes, I suppose I would. You're useful to me, and I admit your company is better than _nothing_.**"

Naruto leaned back and looked up at the sky for a moment, then nervously asked: "Does this mean we're...friends?"

The Kyuubi rested his head on his outstretched arms, contemplating the answer and letting out a deep sigh before finally speaking it. " **Sure.** "

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes**_

the awkward beginning arc is coming to a close, academy arc here we come!

This chapter got a little complicated and maybe convoluted in the explanation sequences, and I'm sorry if it got difficult to follow along at times.

Have some interesting things going on this chapter. We see what's under the mask for Fox and Cat, we see the mindscape of the Kyuubi, and a little bonding between the boy and his kyuubi.

I was really torn on whether or not to do what I did with fox and cat, but I ultimately decided that they both _needed_ some character development if their perspectives were going to ever be used. Lets face it, if you know next to nothing about a character, you aren't exactly going to be concerned with what they have to think, right? Well, that's what I thought at least. So here we finally have a name for Cat and Fox, and some backstory for them so you know who they are instead of having them be faceless ANBU like I originally planned. Hopefully I didn't overstay their welcome, I have a stigma against OCs (though I'm usually tolerant of well written ones) so implementing Jun and Emika felt like I was being a gigantic hypocrite. Part of the reason this was in development hell was over these two. Half of me wanted to not implement their development at all, half of me wanted more development for them. I came in at a happy medium and hopefully you like how I portrayed them. Also, yeah, Jun's ninken is named after an alcoholic beverage.

A reader gave me the name for Cat, Emika. You know who you are, and you're awesome. The original name I had planned for her, admittedly, sucked.

Speaking of names, I decided to poke fun at the name I gave the kyuubi. I couldn't pass up the opportunity when it presented itself, and I hope you find it as funny as I do. Also, Inoichi's comment about not being able to decide whether Rai's name is "a funny coincidence or ironic _"_ is a self insert on my part. It greatly amused me to find out what Rai's name meant, and I literally picked it for the same reason Naruto picked it, because it was easier than saying "Wry-fox" and also because my "W" key is wonky.

Finally we get an explanation of what the crimson chakra is, well, sort of. We have a theory, a working theory, thanks to the Yamanaka clan head. I have several reasons behind why I decided to do this, all of which are probably riddled with plot holes and stuff, but hey. I thought it'd be an interesting idea.

In regards to Jun and Emika, Jun is somewhere skirting the edge of the second category of people for Naruto, he doesn't hate the boy, but he doesn't really feel all that safe around him either. Emika is skirting the third category, she hates the kid, but wouldn't say it to his face like the others in that category would.

Why did I make cat a Hyuuga and Fox an inuzuka and then have them be in a relationship? Because reasons... also, it provided amusing character dialogue and will allow for interesting perspectives and character dynamics in the future.

Rai and Naruto are finally friends now! Yay! Well, except that we all know Rai is a cynical bastard and is probably just playing the part, maybe.

Naruto seems happy about it, whatever the case may be.

Got a heavy dose of Rai's cynicism this chapter, he was raring to really tear into Inoichi verbally and use him as a proxy for how he felt towards the rest of the village. Luckily, the boy stepped in and prevented things from escalating.

Naruto is gonna be the best ninja ever! Assuming he can figure out that throwing shuriken at a target less than five feet from you isn't really all that great for training in the ninja world... and also assuming that he can fix his wall and not freeze in the upcoming winter... and also assuming he can get his apartment together and learn the basics of home care. Ok, so he's got a long way to go before he can even become a ninja.

On a more serious note, Hiruzen's discussion with Naruto about the rumors and claiming that its easier to convince people to be afraid of something than it is to convince them otherwise is a very true statement. IE: flying by airplane is, mile for mile, infinitely safer than driving your car... yet people are scared to death of flying in a plane and would gladly prefer to drive. Its human nature, we're quick to fear things, and its very easy to become afraid of something. It is much more difficult to do the opposite.

Side note, the technology level in Naruto is _really_ confusing. There's radios, electricity, lights, etc. SO, Inoichi used a typewriter to compile his report so quickly, because dammit why not? Convoluted technology levels are a pain in the ay-noose and they really irk me if they make stuff up and don't have any consistency. So, my tech level for this narutoverse is gonna have some damn consistency!

As always, Hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you again soon!


	10. Chapter 10: Getting on Track

_**STATUS UPDATE**_

Since I'm not sure if anyone bothered to check the forums, since I never received any subscriptions for the forums or more than just the one person commenting, I'll post the status update here to break the unacceptably long state of silence you readers have had to endure.

Most importantly, No, the story is not dead. Yeah, it's been on life support over the past two months, and I sincerely apologize for that.

I've got 6 and a half thousand words put into the next chapter, and I'm forcing myself to keep writing even though I'm slogging through it.  
I have a lot of reasons why this has taken so long, and if you want answers, I'll post something about it in the forum.

ALSO! I plan to go through the previous chapters and clean them up. Remove all the crappy word vomit authors notes and redundant pre-story author's notes.

The short of things: Story is not dead, still alive, just taking a long time to get the next chapter out and I'm really sorry that this story had to be created by someone who can't get their shit together.

First off, I'd like to offer an apology for the gigantic delay. No, I was not on hiatus, I was working on this story (sporadically) the entire time.

 ** _due to recent events, I am no longer able to adhere to my previously established update schedule_**

My job is making things difficult to keep a specific schedule with writing and managing school (something I'm admittedly doing poorly in)

I will be continuing to work on this story, that much hasn't changed, but it's not going to be a weekly upload schedule anymore.

 ** _The story forum is up, check my profile page for the link_**. I encourage you readers to check in with my forum, as I'll be using it to keep you all posted and updated on my chapter progress (no more waiting like this and being left in the dark!) I set up the forum so I could better communicate with my readers, and I hope to see you all there.

Now that that's out of the way, I have some things I need to say before we start this story. I'll keep it short and save you all the rant I left in the previous chapter.

I'm not in a good place to be taking negative criticism right now. That isn't to say that I don't want you to voice your opinions, I value your input.

what I'm trying to say, is that I'm very easily discouraged. I already question everything I do and I tend to be very vitriolic towards my work. Half of the reason this chapter took so long to make is because I grew terrified that what I was writing wasn't good enough, that it'd never be good enough. Seeing people highlighting the flaws in my writing made all of that worse for me, to the point where I considered giving up a few times.

I don't want to go further into it and risk looking like I'm some snowflake who can't take criticism. All I'm saying is that people make it infinitely harder for me to enjoy writing when they put this story under unwarranted scrutiny.

It's a fanfiction, I don't get money for this, I don't get anything other than feedback and my own personal satisfaction from writing.

Those that do offer positive feedback, again, I thank you immensely for your support. You are all awesome people.

But enough about that...lemme give a quick shout-out

Holy shizzle! over 100+ favorites and 200+ followers? I'd never have guessed people would be that interested in my work. Thank you readers for all your support!

Trying something new this time, had a beta look things over for me, and he took it upon himself to organize things in a different format than what I usually submit in.

Give me a shout if you like this format better, or if you prefer my usual format. If enough folks like this style better, I'll adopt it into my writing.

 **Disclaimer: This is his beta here, Cynical Kyuubi does not own Naruto, this is a Fanfiction, made for fun. Please enjoy reading.**

* * *

 _Naruto leaned back and looked up at the sky for a moment, then nervously asked: "Does this mean we're... friends?"_

 _The Kyuubi rested his head on his outstretched arms, contemplating the answer and letting out a deep sigh before finally speaking it._ _ **"Sure."**_

* * *

(Kitsune's prison)

There were a plethora of thoughts running through Rai's mind that night. To say he was divided on the subject would be putting it mildly, a good portion of his mind was with the consensus of being outraged and vehemently arguing against the answer given to the brat while still under the "emotional influence" of the previous night. The other portion of his mind argued just as fervently that the brat had earned at least this small gesture.

It would have been one thing had he come up with a casual avoidance of the question, something, _anything_ really to sidestep the subject. Giving the brat more reason to cling to him would only continue to make it that much harder for him to keep his distance from the boy, more-so further down the road.

 _Although,_ to be completely fair, Rai _did_ want Naruto to have a more positive opinion of him. The fact that Naruto had literally asked him if they were friends had established that the boy did. In addition to that, Naruto had taken Rai's side and come to his defense during his conversations with the Hokage and the one named Inoichi. As much as it frustrated him to be in this position now, he'd succeeded in improving the boy's perception of him. Naruto saw Rai as a "friend", and that meant _loyalty_ (which Naruto already showed). That would ultimately be useful to the kitsune, assuming the boy would improve in his abilities and gained applicable skills that Rai could benefit from.

The big fox curled his tails in to give himself his makeshift bedding and closed his eyes. He _supposed_ that he was making more fuss about all of this than was necessary. The worst that would come of this is that he might have to have the brat tag along with him after he freed himself. Although, by the time that happened, Naruto _may_ have grown enough in skill and capabilities that Rai would want to keep him around for his usefulness anyway, in which case all of this strife he had now over the issue would be truly pointless.

Rai opened one eye and snorted at the boy excitedly bouncing on his heels before the sealed gates. **"Naruto, go to sleep already."**

"Let's play a game first!" He wasn't expecting the boy to have brought that up, though, he probably should have.

 **"Is** _ **now**_ **the best time?"** Naruto nodding his head irritated Rai more than the kitsune meant to let it. **"Let me rephrase that:"** The giant fox lazily opened his second eye. **"We can play a game** _ **tomorrow,**_ **or sometime later, just not** _ **now**_ **. Go to bed."**

Same as the last time, it took Rai threatening the boy before he eventually cooperated and went to bed. He'd have to come up with a means of convincing the brat to cease his endeavors and get sleep without having to threaten him with " _enthusiastic night screaming_ " as Rai jokingly referred to it as, but that would just have to wait until later.

* * *

(Konoha)

The next morning was relatively uneventful, Naruto had decided to take a break from his training and spent until noon rummaging through the last few remaining "festival junk piles". Rai was mildly curious, but kept his inquiries to himself, at least at the start.

 **"I'm almost afraid to ask, but, what exactly is it that you're doing?"** Rai was referring to the fact that Naruto had acquired an entire case of leftover streamers from the festival junk piles and was in the process of bringing it to the top of the Hokage tower.

"Playing a prank on the Hokage, what does it look like I'm doing?"

 **"Ok, but** _ **why**_ **though?"** Rai didn't really care, so much as his curiosity had gotten the better of him.

"Because it's fun, obviously!" Naruto exclaimed as he set the case down onto the tower rooftop and got to work unpacking the tightly wound streamers.

 _ **"...Riiiight**_. **I could think of a million other things you could be doing that would be a more productive use of your time**. **"** The blonde boy gave a dismissive wave of his hand and then struggled with the flimsy material of the paper rolls. "You're just allergic to fun, that's what your problem is." With a bit of effort, Naruto began unraveling the ends of the streamers; before long, he was tying them to the guardrails of the rooftop.

 _ **"Allergic to fun**_ **? Have you forgotten that-"** Naruto interrupted and finished Rai's sentence for him in a semi-mocking tone. "You're stuck in a cage and _literally_ have nothing else to do but sleep, cont- contem… _think_ , and watch whatever it is I decide to do. I _know_ , you told me that like a hundred times."

Rai took a turn at being indignant this time and snorted in response. **"You mocking me doesn't change the fact that it's** _ **true**_ **… but that's** _ **not**_ **what I was going to say!"** He barked. _ **'Besides, I don't say it**_ **that** _ **often…'**_

Naruto shrugged with a grin and shot back. "Yeah? Well… uh… oh, hey, why don't you help me out with coming up with new pranks? I'm sure with how smart you are, we can come up with something really awesome!"

 **"No, I think I'll pass."** The boy finished the conversation in a playfully antagonistic tone, after blowing a raspberry at the kitsune first. "See what I mean? _Allergic_ to _fun_."

Once all the streamer ends were in position and with their ends tied to their spot on the guard rail, Naruto stepped back to observe his work. "This is gonna be great, just you watch!"

Rai gave a sarcastic and half-hearted response. **"I'm sure this endeavor will be spectacular…"** Naruto laughed and said, "You need a hobby, then you'll understand." which received a deadpan look from the giant fox. Naruto then ran as quickly as he could, tipping the streamer coils over the edge of the guardrail, sending them all tumbling down and unraveling over the sides of the Hokage tower.

* * *

(Hokage's Office)

Hiruzen took a light puff from his pipe as he looked over the notes he jotted down from yesterday's meeting regarding Naruto and the Kyuubi.

In matters concerning the Kyuubi, the entourage of ANBU could be toned down back to simply having Fox and Cat observing the boy as they used to. Naruto would be safe, and they would have constant and reliable intel on the Kyuubi's actions. It would no longer be necessary to commit two full teams of ANBU, now that the tailed beast was no longer as dire a threat as was originally thought. For all intents and purposes, Hiruzen fully believed that "Rai" was still very much a tangible threat, especially given the troubling presence of the "echo" as Inoichi referred to it. However, it was a threat that could be safely managed with the appropriate measures and contingencies in place. There was the possibility that the nine tails would eventually regain its memories, but that time was not now, and the seal was still in place even if it were.

Inoichi had agreed to regularly check in with Naruto and the Kyuubi, performing mental evaluations and the like. If Rai began regaining his memories, they would know about it and be able to react in time to mitigate any potential negative outcomes as a result.

That was the hope, at least.

Fox, once he returned from his mandatory break period, would be very capable in keeping track of Naruto's behavior and would know of any changes in his usual schedule. It all seemed to be going far better than originally expected, and he had an effective strategy with contingencies in place. The village would be safe and secure from any _plausible_ threat posed by the Nine-Tails.

With the Kyuubi accounted for, he could allow himself to turn his efforts to Naruto's situation.

His hands were a bit tied in terms of what he personally could do for Naruto; if he directly intervened, it might backfire if and when the villagers or the council found out. He was already stretching things as it was with his efforts to counter the rumors regarding the boy, in addition to his regular visits with him and the stipend he issued Naruto for basic living expenses. Hiruzen could justify such measures to any inquiring minds, but anything further would run significant risk.

Fortunately, he wouldn't _have_ to intervene himself.

Shikaku offered to ensure Naruto had a proper store of food and basic living necessities. He could also educate the boy on the things he needed to know in order to safely live by himself. Inoichi also agreed to do the same if needed, though voiced that he would be of more use in his role of analyzing Naruto and the kyuubi.

Both clan heads suggested that Chōza Akimichi could be briefed on the situation and brought in to assist if necessary. Additionally, they had an assortment of trusted individuals they could ask to look after Naruto if the need ever occurred. Hiruzen thanked them, though filed the suggestions away in his mind as a "plan C" of sorts.

Even if Hiruzen couldn't be involved directly, he could rest easy knowing there were those who would be willing and able to legitimately help the boy. He had options, Naruto would be cared for.

Had things been different, Hiruzen would have strongly considered asking one of the clans of Konoha to adopt Naruto outright, or something to that effect. Unfortunately, as Shikaku had more than pointed out, due to recent events and the current political environment he had to work with, that would have brought along numerous problems and complications. It was a terrible shame; that could have given the poor boy as close to a normal childhood as Hiruzen originally wanted Naruto to have.

The Hokage's train of thought was interrupted by a light series of taps and scratching on the window behind him, and the sudden lack of sunlight entering his office.

Turning to see the origin of the noise and lack of light left him with a smirk. He saw a series of multicolored streamers covering his window, effectively blocking off his view of Konoha. ' _There's only one person I know who will do something like this._ ' The old man thought to himself as he made his way outside at a brisk pace. If he was quick enough, he could catch the boy admiring his own handiwork from a distance, and he knew just where Naruto would be to do that.

* * *

(Konoha Plaza)

 **"Well, if your objective was to make the Hokage tower look festive and lively, you succeeded."** Rai stated in a tone that reeked of boredom and a hint of antagonistic intent. Naruto stood at the center of Konoha plaza, taking in the view of his hard work with a mildly disappointed expression himself. The end results of his hour worth of work was underwhelming, it was little more than a minor nuisance/inconvenience at best and nothing close to the prank he'd envisioned it to be.

"You know, this was _way_ better in my head…" He proclaimed, not hiding the disappointment in his voice. Rai took the opportunity to give a playful jab at the boy's disappointment. **"Don't worry, I'm sure everyone in the Hokage tower is crying out your name in rage over the fact that their windows are partially obscured."**

"I guess so, but it feels crap-tacular." Rai made an amusedly curious expression coupled with a laugh at that word.

 _ **"Crap-tacular?"**_ Naruto folded his arms and defiantly retorted to the kitsune. "It's a _word!_ "

Before either could respond, their attention was drawn to the sudden gust of wind that had made all the streamers atop the Hokage tower flutter about in an eye-catching and distracting display. Admittedly, this wasn't what Naruto originally planned, but he'd take it.

The boy fist pumped and had an enthusiastic look and tone as he proudly said. "Ha! See? I told you it'd be awesome!"

Rai gave a less than enthusiastic, yet snarky response. **"Its crap-tacular…"** The boy folded his arms and defended his work with as witty a comeback as he could manage.

"Shows what you know, that isn't even a word!"

Rai did a double take. **'** _ **Did he just...?'**_ He thought and couldn't decide whether he was dumbfounded by the boy's idiocy and obliviousness, or if Naruto was more clever than he seemed and had done that intentionally.

Maybe it was both? Yes, most likely both, a clever idiot.

Naruto ran to the Hokage monument as quickly as he could, wanting to get a better angle and add in a last-minute extra bit before the next gust of wind came along.

 **"You did your prank, boy, shouldn't you get back to your academy preparation training, or something?"**

"Not yet! Gimme a second!."

Naruto came to a stop and hesitated as he ascended the last few steps up the Hokage monument, streamer bundle in hand. Hiruzen was standing just a few strides from the stairs, and was looking right at Naruto as if he was expecting the boy. Sure enough, this proved to be the case when the Hokage gestured for Naruto to come forth, though he kept that same warm expression that he always did whenever they visited.

Cat took position by Hiruzen's side, Naruto quickly hid the streamer behind his back after realizing he'd had it in plain view. A dog masked ANBU with white hair took position near the stairwell and watched as Naruto passed him by.

Hiruzen noted that Naruto had a very incriminating expression on his face, despite the boy trying to hide it. That faux innocent smile of his, the smile reserved for when he had just successfully carried out a prank...

"Heya, jiji! Enjoying the view?" Naruto managed to get out with giggles barely concealed in his voice.

The old man couldn't help but smile and shake his head with a soft huff. "Naruto-kun, I sure hope you put this much effort into your training once you enter the academy."

Naruto put his fists against his hips and put on a display of bravado. "I'm gonna blaze through whatever the academy throws my way, _dattebayo_!", Rai didn't make any effort to resist the temptation of audibly snorting at the boy's naïve overconfidence. Naruto briefly popped into the fox's prison to give a quick "Shut _up_ , wry-fox!" much to the kitsune's amusement.

Hiruzen nodded with an approving smile at the child's enthusiasm, "That's good to hear, very good. However, I'm not simply here to enjoy the view. Naruto, I have something important I need to speak to you about; it concerns the state of your home and a few other things."

"Oh, um, sure! Sure, let's talk!", Naruto said in an optimistic tone of voice. The Hokage cleared his throat and proceeded to discuss the plan that he'd decided upon, along with the details of the previous day's meeting, albeit, with certain details withheld.

(a short time later)

"So… this Shikaku person and the blonde guy-" Hiruzen interrupted Naruto and gave him a gentle reprimand.

" _Inoichi_ , not _the blonde guy_ , Naruto."

"Err... right, I don't understand though… I already know how to live by myself, and I've been doing fine on my own." The Hokage gave a deadpan look that told Naruto loud and clear that he wasn't buying what the boy was selling.

"Naruto-kun, you may have _survived_ this far on your own, but after seeing and… _smelling_ your apartment the other day, I'm quite convinced that you have much to learn before you can safely live alone. Frankly I'm astonished that you haven't fallen ill from food poisoning or mold spores yet, or worse." Hiruzen stated with a gentle, but firm tone of voice and expression to go with it.

"But, I have academy prep stuff I have to learn! I can't just stop to go to the blon-Inoichi's place to talk about dumb stuff, _da_ _ttebayo_!" Naruto said to Hiruzen with a slight whine in his voice.

The Hokage reiterated what he'd said before, but added to it with. "You don't have to stop your current endeavors, but I want you to address your living conditions as your top priority. The sooner you learn how to keep your home clean and organized, the better."

The boy groaned aloud, causing the wizened old man to let out a soft chuckle. "Yes, I know, you'd much rather focus your attention on preparing for the academy. It's just as important you know how to properly take care of yourself, so, like it or not, that's just the way things will have to be."

Naruto folded his arms and voiced his disapproval of the idea, looking slightly insecure at the notion of having more people 'looking after him'.

Hiruzen then started with a, "Well, if you're going to be continuing to live alone, it's a necessity. If not, we might have to send you back to the orphana-"

"No, no-no-no, I can't go back there!" Naruto shook his head with a panicked and nervous expression on his face.

The response he gave to the old man caught Rai's attention, though he stayed silent about it.

Hiruzen reached forward and grasped Naruto by one of his shoulders. "Naruto-kun, calm yourself. That is _not_ what I'm going to do; I'm well aware of how unpleasant that place was for you."

The Sandaime Hokage knelt down and met the blonde boy at eye level, speaking to reassure him that they were merely setting up for him to be able to continue to live in his apartment as he was currently. Hiruzen felt rather guilty for using mention of the orphanage as a means to motivate Naruto to take his home life situation more seriously, but it was for the best.

Once Naruto had returned to his usual carefree self, the Hokage gave him written instructions on where to go to meet with Inoichi Yamanaka.

"Oh, and before you go…" Hiruzen gestured to the streamers draped across the Hokage tower. "I'd appreciate it if you cleaned that up. I prefer my view of Konoha unobscured and clear of rainbow paper."

The boy grinned sheepishly at that.

Several minutes later, Naruto had finally gathered up the last of the streamers from the Hokage tower. Hiruzen gave an acknowledging huff as the boy stowed them in the trash bin that had been set up for him. He then sent Naruto off with Dog in tow to make sure he arrived at his destination swiftly and safely. Cat followed shortly after.

Eventually, Naruto arrived at the Yamanaka compound, eventually being the keyword. If it weren't for the written instructions, and Rai offering his annoyed corrections, Naruto would have gotten completely lost.

After taking in the arrangement of structures that made up the compound, he stepped in and was quickly greeted by Inoichi. It seemed that the man must have been expecting Naruto's arrival.

The Yamanaka's clan leader led the boy into the compound and showed him to his office.

(some time later)

Naruto was idly kicking his feet back and forth as he sat in one of the comfy chairs of the blonde guy's office. He'd been sitting here for an hour now, just… talking. He was asked a bunch of questions, sort of like the questions game he and Rai had played, except these questions were really dumb, and boring.

He was uncomfortable just sitting around like this, and he definitely hated how boring all of this was. He could be home training right now! Instead, Hokage-jiji asked him to be here in this office with the blonde guy and talking with him about boring stuff. It'd have been much better if he could talk about Ninja stuff, he could talk all day about how cool ninja were!

Rai had decided to sit this one out, for obvious reasons.

Inoichi was busy jotting down notes as he spoke with Naruto, though, he was having a bit of a difficult time of that due to Naruto's behavior. The boy was technically cooperative enough, but he had a _very_ limited attention span, to put it mildly. Inoichi dealt with children of similar personalities in his profession before, but nothing quite to the extent of Naruto.

He needed to develop a basic profile of the child that he and Shikaku could work with. In time, he could help Naruto with his obvious developmental issues that were most likely a result of his social isolation.

This would prove to be a challenge, though Inoichi was confident he could manage.

* * *

(Inoichi's office, some time later)

"So, how'd it go?" Shikaku asked, casually leaning over to get a look at what Inoichi had been typing up.

"As well as could be expected from a socially inept, high-energy, seven-year-old orphan." The ashen blonde-haired man said in a neutral tone. He fiddled with the ink ribbon for a brief moment and adjusted the position of the paper roll before resuming his typing.

Shikaku held up a few fingers and listed off several things in a mildly sarcastic tone. "He couldn't sit still, was all over the place, didn't cooperate, was more stubborn than a mule, and you were at your wit's end halfway through?"

Inoichi stopped typing, long enough to respond. "Yes, he couldn't sit still, but, no, he was actually relatively cooperative, all things considered."

Shikaku raised his eyebrows at that. "No kidding? Well, damn, looks like Chōza totally called that one... tsk, how troublesome…" This made his former teammate laugh.

"I warned you not to take him up on that wager." He grinned before getting back to work.

After typing up one last paragraph, Inoichi carefully removed the paper roll from its slot and laid it out flat with the others. The blonde glanced back at Shikaku before saying. "May I assume your meeting with the child went as smoothly?" Shikaku's expression painted an accurate picture for Inoichi to guess how it went. "Oh, so you weren't just being sarcastic when you were listing off…? Right, sorry to hear." Inoichi sheepishly stated and went back to his typewriter.

Shikaku leaned against the wall next to his friend's desk before speaking. "Little bastard seems good natured enough, but he's a troublesome pain in the ass when it comes to following directions and listening. I'd be more cross about it if it weren't for the kid's situation giving me a massive guilt trip in the back of my mind. Oh, by the way, your description of his apartment's condition really doesn't do it justice."

Inoichi nodded at that, being able to more than imagine what sorts of horrors the Nara encountered upon trying to help the boy clean up the chaotic mess that he called a home. "Anything in particular that stood out?" Inoichi asked half jokingly.

Shikaku was less than amused by the attempt at humor, though, tried to offer a matching response. "Oh yes, what an _incredible_ new smell we've discovered. Next time, I'm bringing a surgeon's mask or something to protect my nose, at least until we figure out what's behind that odor. Dunno how the kid can stand it."

After a short time passed, Shikaku asked in a lowered voice. "How was Naruto's _friend?_ "

Before he answered the question, Inoichi stood up from his chair and gathered the paperwork for filing away. "Rai was... reluctant to talk. I don't think he's particularly fond of me. Quote: _I have nothing to say to you, fix my headaches and maybe then we'll talk,_ end-quote."

"Yeah, that sounds like he's not too happy with you. Just what'd you say to piss him off?" Inoichi had a look about him after Shikaku said that, putting the papers in their respective filing space before answering in a mild tone.

"I… may have inadvertently insinuated that we believed Rai would attack the village when I first met with him." After which, Shikaku immediately moved away from the wall and replied heatedly.

"For heaven's sake, Inoichi! Aren't you supposed to be the analytical one?! The hell'd you do a thing like _that_ for?!" The ashen blonde held his hands up defensively.

"I didn't _intend_ to do that! I was merely trying to ensure that we knew with one hundred percent certainty that Rai wasn't a threat! Admittedly, my wording could have been significantly better, but what's done is done."

Shikaku went back to leaning against the wall and gave a soft huff. "…Ok, fair enough."

Inoichi filed away the last of the paperwork and gathered a new set of blank papers to fit into the typewriter. "I'm hoping that, eventually, he decides to open up and take part in these meetings. If not, my work will be that much more difficult, at least as far as _he's_ concerned."

"I wouldn't hold my breath, he sounds like he's the type to hold a grudge." Shikaku snarked.

* * *

(Ramen Ichiraku)

Naruto hopped into the seat of an empty barstool in Ramen Ichiraku, Teuchi gave a friendly greeting as he usually did and offered Naruto "the usual". The boy sat and waited eagerly for the delicacy to be prepared, sipping at a soft drink in the meantime.

"So, Naruto-kun, how goes the academy preparation? Working hard, I take it?" The ramen chef asked as he worked. Naruto gave a gleeful grin in return.

"You bet! I'm gonna blaze through the academy no problem!" Naruto pre-emptively popped in on Rai's prison and shushed the big fox before he could make any sarcastic remarks.

Rai held up a hand in defense and feigned innocence, but the grin he had on his face spoke volumes about what he was thinking.

"That's fantastic to hear, and that optimism is going to take you far, mark my words!" Teuchi finished up the batch of ramen and served it to his favorite customer.

Naruto took the chopsticks and held them between his pressed together palms. "Ita-Itad…idak, uhh… _Itadaki_ -" Naruto let out a sound that could best be described as "frustration".

Teuchi smiled and gave a polite laugh, "I think what you're trying to say is _"Itadakimasu"._ Look at you, choosing to use the language of tradition. Puts a smile on my face seeing a younger generation doing their part to keep it alive!"

"I was just saying it because I heard you and Hokage-jiji saying it." Naruto admitted self-consciously with a shrug and a grin.

The ramen chef waved it off and leaned in to give Naruto a little bit of wisdom. "It's the same with everyone else, outside the big clans and shinobi, they see other folks carrying that torch and decide to take it up themselves! It's how the traditional language has stayed alive amongst civilian folk like myself, passing it on and seeing it firsthand and then learning some of it."

Naruto blinked and meekly nodded his head, electing to return focus to his ramen for a moment before he eventually asked: "What does it mean, Teuchi-san?"

Teuchi smiled as he began wiping down the other end of the bar. "I believe it means, _I Humbly receive_ , though most folks think it just means _let's eat_ , or something to that effect." Naruto slurped up a good portion of ramen, nodding his head in response to the explanation.

Rai, however, was quite curious as to how and why he seemed to have already known what that word meant. He was also partially curious about how the boy knew several of these words already. " **So, I take it you heard someone else say** _ **Poketto Suna no jutsu?**_ **Can't imagine the context behind** _ **that**_ **one.** "

Naruto gave a brief appearance in the prison to say. "Actually, I saw it in a comic book."

Rai seemed disappointed by that answer, as if he'd been expecting a more elaborate explanation. **"Of course you did..."**

Naruto paid for a second helping of ramen and began to dig in just as a man stepped into the stand.

Naruto glanced over at him and the two made eye contact. The most striking features about this individual were the fact that his eyes were slits and he had curved red "fangs" painted over his cheeks. His clothes were also unusual compared to the kinds of things he saw other villagers wearing. One particularly eye catching aspect was that he had a patterned jacket with _fur_ attached in several places.

Jun hadn't expected the boy to be here, he had followed the scheduling he'd made in his head and intended to swing by here in the times he was _least likely_ to run into the Nine-Tails' container.

Jun was momentarily paused there, standing between the vertical slats of the ramen bar, making eye contact with Naruto Uzumaki. Seeing him outside his ANBU duties like this, up close and being seen right back by the boy… it was _different_.

He was legitimately tempted to back away now and go find another food place to eat at, but what other ramen places were there in Konoha? Not any good ones, and Ramen Ichiraku was the only ramen place that served his favorite liquor. Besides, he always got ramen for dinner on this day of the week, eating anything else was out of the question.

The ramen chef offering his usual friendly greeting brought Jun out of his temporarily frozen state and dissipated his thoughts of retreat. With a sigh, he closed his eyes and shambled over to the barstool on the opposite end, taking the seat furthest away from Naruto.

He hunched over, his elbows supporting him on the bar counter. "Evening, Teuchi-san." He greeted.

"It's good to see you again, Jun, I assume you'll be having the usual?"

The Inuzuka hesitated for a brief moment before giving a low toned answer. "Yup… and a meat lover's this time… thanks." He then sent one of his hands rummaging in his side pouch, emerging with a handful of ryo that he unceremoniously placed onto the countertop.

His eyes shifted to the left and caught a glimpse of the boy, he hadn't taken his eyes off of Jun since he stepped in. Not that he was necessarily bothered by it, but being so close to the Kyuubi's container was unnerving enough without the kid staring at him the entire time.

Jun did his best to ignore it for now, but being out here without his mask made him feel vulnerable. More so being right here next to the individual he'd been tasked to keep watch over for the past couple of years. It was childish, he knew this, nobody recognized ANBU outside of their duties, that was the whole point behind wearing the masks and taking code names. Nevertheless, he felt the weight on his mind and he cursed his luck silently.

Teuchi poured a glass of the bright green liquor and placed it down on the counter. "One cold glass of Midori, no ice." Jun winced at the name, but wasted no time in taking a drink. He'd feel less awkward after he had a bit of alcohol in his system.

Naruto eventually took his gaze off the guy with the freaky eyes and fur, going back to his bowl of ramen to ensure it was eaten before it cooled; cold ramen was terrible. He devoured the remaining noodles with haste and slurped down the broth in record time.

Teuchi had witnessed it and blinked a few times in disbelief, he was fairly certain he'd never seen someone _inhale_ ramen before.

Jun had his chopsticks in hand and the piping hot bowl of ramen with meat piled high sitting before him, waiting for him to dig in. Just as he was about to, he heard the boy take a seat right next to him. Turning his head to look had him come face to face with the boy, with barely a foot between them.

Naruto was leaning in towards the man, squinting and staring at those slitted eyes, trying to make sense of what he was looking at.

 **"You know, I'm not** _ **entirely**_ **sure about your customs and cultural norms in Konoha, but… I** _ **think**_ **most people would find staring like this to be** _ **rude**_ **? Possibly creepy?"** Rai said in as condescending manner as possible.

Naruto briefly stood before the kitsune's prison and pointed with both hands at nowhere in particular. "He's got freaky eyes though! And he's got those red marks on his cheeks, and, that fur jacket-"

 **"And your decision is to stare intently at him…** _ **Why?**_ **"**

Naruto shrugged in response, "I dunno, because he's weird looking? I'm trying to figure out what's up with his eyes."

Rai lowered his head to try and meet somewhat near Naruto's eye level. **"And have you tried** _ **talking**_ **to him? Maybe he'd be inclined to address your curiosity if you weren't looking like you were trying to stare into his soul?"**

Back in Ramen Ichiraku, Naruto leaned away from the man before asking. "Hey, mister, what's up with your freaky eyes?"

Rai palmed both of his hands over the front of his face and dragged them downward before yelling out. **"That, is** _ **NOT**_ **what I** _ **meant!**_ "

Teuchi and the man with the slitted eyes both did a double take. Teuchi quickly chastised the boy for his obnoxious question, "Naruto, what have I told you about saying such impolite things to people?"

The boy recoiled slightly at the scornful look the ramen chef was giving him. "Oh, sorry, Teuchi-san…"

"Don't apologize to _me_ , apologize to _him_." Naruto did so, using the humble tone that he'd been taught by Teuchi to use.

Jun simply sat there with his eyes half squinting at the boy and his jaw partway open in disbelief. He thought he would know what to expect from the kid, given the fact that he'd been keenly observing him and his mannerisms over the past couple of years. Here he was, thrown for a loop by a simple question that he hadn't heard since he was a kid himself. Knowing Naruto's behavior and seeing it firsthand were two completely different things.

Jun eventually went back to his ramen and drink, taking in a large portion of the meat and biting at it, trying to ignore how uncomfortable he was becoming from this extended social interaction, especially considering it was with the Kyuubi's container.

Naruto had a brief discussion with Rai outside the kitsune's prison, coming up with a _better_ way to talk to the man.

He came back to reality with a planned out interaction courtesy of the kitsune. "Hey, uh… your name's Jun, right?" The blonde awkwardly asked.

The man slowly turned and glanced at Naruto with a slice of meat half hanging out of his mouth. He hesitated for a moment and said "That's my name…" with a decidedly unenthusiastic tone and mild slur to his speech on account of the food in his mouth.

"Are you a ninja?" The boy continued to ask.

Jun finished the food he had in his mouth before answering in a mild tone. "Uhh… yeah."

"Are you a special kind of ninja?" The unmasked ANBU hesitated and cast the boy an uncomfortable glance before replying.

"…What makes you say that?"

Naruto pressed on. "Your eyes, and the red thingies on your cheeks, I've never seen anything like them before." Teuchi raised an eyebrow at Naruto's questions, keeping tabs on the boy's mannerisms while he cleaned the dishes the boy had used.

Jun was becoming visibly uncomfortable, despite the alcohol in his system that should have at least mitigated that somewhat.

Teuchi noted this and tried to occupy Naruto's attention by inquiring further into his progress with academy preparation. It worked, but only temporarily, and soon Naruto was back to bugging the Inuzuka with his questions.

The ramen chef had his arms folded and was slowly shaking his head with a mildly scornful expression aimed at Naruto. "That's enough, Naruto, let the man eat his meal in peace." The boy tried to defend his position at that.

"I just want to find out why he has such weird looking eyes and stuff…"

Rai cringed. **"Oh, that was** _ **smooth, brat."**_ Teuchi sighed and gestured for the boy to take a seat a few stools away from Jun. The Ramen chef had done the best he could with the time he'd had available to try and instill some basic manners and social skills into the poor boy when he was younger, but there was a seemingly ever-expanding amount of room for improvement.

"It's genetic…" Jun finally said, but with another mouthful of sliced meat. "Runs in my clan." The ANBU hoped that this would satisfy the kid's curiosity, but it didn't.

Naruto just inched closer, attempting to move to the seat next to Jun again, though he was halted by a strategically timed clang from the dishes Teuchi had been cleaning. "He's a member of the Inuzuka clan, one of the several large shinobi families in the Hidden Leaf village." Teuchi answered, noting Jun's discomfort and offering to sate the boy's curiosity in his stead to which the man was grateful for.

"How come I've never seen 'em before?" Naruto asked. Teuchi offered an explanation to the boy's question.

"The larger clans mostly stay in their own districts or compounds, parts of the village you haven't been to. You've probably encountered members of other clans and didn't realize it. The members of Konoha's police force, for example: many of them are members of the Uchiha clan."

Naruto shook his head and clarified. "No, I mean, how come I've never seen _him_ before?" This time Jun offered an answer.

"Because I only swing by when no one else is here…"

Teuchi quickly went on to finish. "Anyway… It's getting a bit late, Naruto-kun, why don't you head on home before it gets dark?"

Before the blonde could say anything, Rai took the opportunity to speak. **"I agree with the noodle chef, you've been out here long enough. You have work to do, remember?"** The boy stepped before the Kitsune's prison and shouted.

"He's a _Ramen_ chef, wry-fox!"

 **"Whatever, same difference."** The big fox waved.

"How can something be the same if it's different? That's the dumbest thing I ever heard!"

The Kitsune dragged a hand over his face in exasperation, **"It's an** _ **expression,**_ **kid** _ **.**_ **"**

"Oh, yeah? Well, it's a _dumb_ expression if you ask me."

Back in reality, two rather obnoxious men had stumbled into Ramen Ichiraku and took seats on the opposite end of the bar.

As they took their seats, one of them commented. "Oh, great, it's the monster-boy… and a _mutt,_ too. You keep letting types like them into Ichiraku Ramen and you're gonna go out of business, I'm telling you. Nobody wants Konoha's resident _bad omen_ , or the stench of dog hanging around when they're trying to eat."

Teuchi just shook his head at the comments, but nevertheless handed the two a set of menus. "I don't turn away paying customers."

Naruto knew that it was time for him to go, so he said his farewells to the Ramen chef and hopped out of his seat, quickly putting distance between himself and the decidedly unfriendly patrons that were beginning to arrive. He hadn't realized how late it was, he was usually scarce from this part of town at this hour.

It took some doing, but he managed to navigate his way out of that part of town without running into too many of the more confrontational inhabitants of Konoha.

However, instead of heading straight home, Naruto took a detour on the way back.

The boy went to one of the construction sites and rummaged through the discarded wood piles that were available. He was a bit more selective this time around, taking a large panel of discarded plywood that was relatively intact, as well as two carved-up two-by-fours.

Rai made the observation, **"I take it, this is for your wall?"**

"Yeah, I can't just leave a hole in my apartment, right?" Naruto answered.

The fox gave a respectful huff and said. **"Smart move, though it might be smarter to ask for help**. **"**

"Nah, I'll be fine."

 **"If you say so**. **"**

* * *

(Naruto's apartment)

It didn't take long for him to make the walk back home to his apartment, even with the materials in hand. Naruto stepped inside and soon noticed the new, durable wooden panels that had been installed to cover up the damage he'd caused to his wall. "What the heck?" Was all the boy said before the materials he'd carried in his hands were unceremoniously left to drop on the ground. He strolled over and curiously examined these new fixtures.

Rai guessed that these must have been installed while Naruto was out earlier getting dinner.

The panels looked sturdy and capable, way better than the plywood he'd picked up. Speaking of which, he had to figure out what to do with the extra wood he'd collected, now that he didn't need it anymore. Throwing away the wood would be a waste, but what could he do with plywood and a couple of two-by-fours?

He glanced over to his makeshift target and had an "aha!" moment, grabbing the panel of plywood and setting it up overtop the old target.

"Perfect, now it kinda matches the wood panels a little better. Hey, Rai, what do you think I should do with these wooden beams?" The blonde boy asked.

 **"What are you asking** _ **me**_ **for? Do I** _ **look**_ **like a carpenter to you?"** Naruto shrugged and picked up the two-by-fours, thinking it over and putting them together.

"I was just asking, sheesh." Rai then had an idea.

 **"Why not put some padding on them and turn them into a fighting post? That way, you can start making some tangible progress on your taijutsu."** Naruto's face beamed with an enthusiastic "That's a great idea!" and immediately get to work doing just that, using some of the leftover wire and string to hold the poles together.

"Wait… what does _tangible_ mean?"

 **"Don't worry about it."**

It took some effort, but he managed to get the beams to stand up straight after jerry rigging them to the back of one of his kitchen chairs.

From there, Naruto ran to his bedroom and grabbed some old, worn out pillows from his closet and set them up on the makeshift wooden pole. He tied them up with the rest of his string and took a step back to look things over. "How's that?"

 **"Ehh, it's kind of lopsided, don't you think?"**

Naruto gave a thumbs-up anyway and proclaimed, "Looks good enough to me!"

The boy took a serious pose in front of the makeshift sparring pole. "Alright! Punching time!" He exclaimed loudly.

 **"Wait, Naruto, did you bother to read the-"** But before the Kitsune could finish, Naruto had thrust his fist straight out as hard as he could, impacting into the pole at awkward angle and causing the boy to recoil with a pained expression and a yelp.

 **"I'll take that as a** _ **no**_ **."** Rai stated with a hint of snark.

"Gaah! That _hurt_! Why did that hurt?" The boy said as he tenderly rubbed his wrist.

 **"Maybe it has something to do with the** _ **starter's guide to Taijutsu**_ **book that's been lying unopened on your desk and collecting dust since the day the elder librarian gave it to you?"** This elicited a groan from Naruto, followed by the expected response of: "But I _hate_ reading…"

 **"Yes,** **I know that, we've established this. Quit whining and get to it already, you aren't going to learn anything useful by** _ **complaining**_ **about it."**

* * *

(Jun's apartment)

Jun had made it back home and immediately dressed himself in his ANBU uniform. He held the fox mask in his hands and carefully slipped it on, feeling a wave of relief as the mask sat neatly in place, concealing his appearance once more.

Fox sighed heavily and glanced to the mirror, taking in his appearance and feeling confidence replace the feelings he'd had while the mask was off. The ANBU took a step to the entryway, stopping briefly to adjust the fang necklace and slip it beneath his clothing to protect it.

He stepped out onto the faux balcony and performed a shunshin, ready and eager to put that venture behind him and return to his duties.

Cat and Dog were both in position outside Naruto's apartment by the time Fox arrived.

Cat gave a nod to Dog, and the white-haired ANBU stepped aside to allow Fox to take his position.

A shunshin later, and Dog was gone.

Cat leaned in behind Fox, whispering in a volume that only _he_ could hear.

"So, how was your dinner? Worth the run-in with the blonde demon and the ignoramus?" Fox shot her a glance, and the low, canid noise he emitted answered the question for her.

"You know, it'd have been OK if you got up and wiped the floor with that _kusottare_ for insulting your clan like that and then trying to pick a fight with you. I'd have covered for you if anyone gave you grief over it. Inu would have too, after I convinced him, of course." Fox shook his head and let out a few additional sounds, causing Cat to shrug.

"Hey, _relax_ , I know it's not your nature." She teasingly patted Fox on the head and said in a playfully mocking tone. "You're too much of a _good boy_ to bite back, even when they deserve it."

* * *

(Kitsune's prison)

Several weeks had passed, and Naruto had shown negligible improvement in the various aspects of academy prep that he'd been "working on". His taijutsu was little more than flailing around randomly in hopes of landing a punch, his understanding of what chakra even _was_ could best be described as "asinine". The only thing he had actually _improved_ upon was his weapons throwing, and even _that_ was erroneous.

Was the brat even trying? He was _sure_ that Naruto should have been further along than he was currently. The boy was having his time taken up by other endeavors, true, but that wasn't any excuse for such lackluster rates of improvement as Rai was seeing. To make matters worse, he insisted on irritating Rai at every possible opportunity.

On the bright side, the blonde idiot's apartment was in much better condition and he was eating _slightly_ better. To Rai, though, this was hardly anything worth considering, it didn't make any difference to him how the kid ate or kept his home.

The brat procrastinated, yes, and he wasted time on those pointless pranks of his. Rai was impatient, yes, he didn't deny this fact. Surely though, there should have been more meaningful progress, right? He was certain that he wasn't being unreasonable with his expectations, as laxed as they were for Naruto…

Try as he might, the kitsune couldn't figure out why the brat was performing so abysmally.

It wasn't until the following week that the big fox decided to take action and try to figure out what was going on. The brat had started neglecting his training altogether and spent the majority of his time reading comics, pranking the unsuspecting inhabitants of Konoha, or seemingly intentionally doing things to annoy Rai.

The kitsune was never going to get anywhere trying to solve this thing by observing and theorizing. No, the best way to figure this out was talking to the brat and trying to dig into any issues he might not have been aware of.

 **"Naruto?"** He asked in a neutral tone.

The boy popped into view in front of the kitsune's cage and took a seat. "Yeah, what's up?"

Rai chose his next words very carefully, considering the possible avenues of dialogue he could take. **"I'm concerned with your lack of progress in your training, and with your recent hiatus."**

"Hia- _what_ now?"

 **"Your** **apparent neglect of training?"**

Naruto shrugged and looked away. "I'm just taking a break, that's all… you know I hate reading those dumb books and scrolls. It makes my brain hurt sitting and reading so much." Rai noted Naruto's avoidance of the other part of his earlier statement, though whether or not it had been intentional, he couldn't determine.

 **"If you say so, but your progress in the training thus far has been…"** , Rai started. Naruto was quick to interject.

"Amazing, right?"

 **"The direct opposite of amazing."** The kitsune corrected.

Naruto gave Rai a look of denial, though, Rai gave an expression right back to counter.

The boy huffed and folded his arms. "I thought I was doing pretty good."

Rai rested his head in his palm before he went on. **"I'm getting the impression you aren't taking this whole "ninja" thing seriously."** The boy's reaction confirmed Rai's assumption to be correct, as instead of giving a reasonable response, Naruto had made an obnoxious joke about it.

Admittedly, it was a mildly funny joke, but Rai wasn't in the mood to have a serious conversation derailed by infantile humor.

 **"Even now, you aren't taking this seriously** _ **at all**_ **. I'm not going to bother giving you assistance if you're not going to make the most of my efforts to help you. Judging by everything I've been seeing, even before you took your little** _ **break**_ **; your sub-par attempts at training have been horrendous and are getting you nowhere."** Rai said in a matter-of-factly manner.

Naruto was, of course, outraged by that; he shot to his feet and threw his arms up in dramatic fashion. "Oh come on, I've been doing my best! _"_

 **"That's just it, you** _ **haven't**_ **been doing your best."**

"You said you'd help me if I needed it back when I first started this, but you never did! I've asked for help and you never gave it!" The boy's voice had gradually blended into a mix of determined outrage and whiny child.

 **"So now it's** _ **my**_ **fault that your training is going so poorly?"** Naruto looked at Rai with an expression that was a mix between confusion and resentment. "I didn't say that!"

 **"I warned you that I wouldn't allow you to use me as a crutch**. **"** Rai sad while he narrowed his eyes.

"That's _not_ what I want!"

 **"Your actions say otherwise**. **"**

"That's not true, we're _friends_! I just want-" Was Naruto's next statement, but the giant fox snorted to interrupt and proceeded to give his reply with extra snark.

 **"So that means I'm obligated to do your work for you? Is that what you think friends are for? How selfish of you."** However, instead of the reaction Rai was expecting and hoping for, Naruto flipped things on him completely.

With obvious distress in his voice and a hurt look, Naruto shouted. "Maybe that's what _you_ think friends are for, but _I_ don't, _da_ _ttebayo!_ " The boy kicked at the water in frustration before turning away from the kitsune and leaving.

Before Rai could say anything, Naruto had disappeared back into reality and left Rai alone with his thoughts.

* * *

(Naruto's apartment)

Naruto was understandably upset about all of this. Not only had Rai gone back on his promise to help when he needed it, but he'd gone and accused him of being selfish and _lazy_!

…Well, ok, maybe Rai hadn't _literally_ called him lazy, but still!

All Naruto had wanted was a little bit of help, he wasn't sure what he was doing half the time and he hated having to read those books with all those fancy terms and words he didn't understand. There was only so much he could do on his own, and he'd gotten really frustrated with how difficult of a time he was having with his training as of late. Why couldn't the dumb kitsune understand that?

Why'd Rai have to go and be a jerk about it? Naruto didn't want Rai to do everything _for_ him, heck, he didn't even want his _help_ , as much as he just wanted something they could do together as friends. Having someone to train with would have made this so much easier, and actually _fun,_ most of the time. Doing it alone was… well, boring wouldn't fit how Naruto felt about it, but it was the only word he knew that'd come close. Lonely? Lonely worked, sort of. Lonely and boring, sure, that was close enough.

Did Rai even _want_ to be his friend? The dumb fox sure wasn't acting like it.

This wouldn't be the first time someone lied about being his friend...

A thought crossed his mind at that moment. What if Rai had never had any friends before either? What if all of this was as new and awkward to _him_ as it was to Naruto?

 _'That doesn't excuse him being such a jerk though…'_ Naruto thought bitterly.

* * *

(KItsune's prison)

Rai had spent the next day contemplating what he'd said to Naruto, and he came to several rather humbling conclusions. The first realization was that Rai had been going about all of this the _wrong way_.

Rai's entire point of sticking with this brat in the first place was because he could be _helpful_ and _useful_. He wanted Naruto to become _more_ useful, he _needed_ him to be more useful. Being as passive as he had been in the brat's training was a direct contradiction to this idea. If anything, this made the boy _less_ useful, which he _did not_ want.

If Naruto was flailing about and floundering in his training, Rai was obligated to step in and offer assistance, not for Naruto's sake, so much as his _own_ sake.

As much as he disliked the notion of pretending to be the kid's _friend_ , he had to reconsider his position here. Rai _had_ been letting his pride get in the way, he'd refused to return the favor and help Naruto after Naruto had willingly helped _him_. The more he thought about it, the more it didn't sit right with him. Sure, he didn't exactly _like_ the brat, but was he truly comfortable taking from him and giving nothing in return?

Even if he didn't care about the fact that he was being stubborn and selfish, well, admittedly, he did, he was only sabotaging his efforts to achieve his goals by taking this asinine stance in regards to the kids training. His first priority should have been aiding Naruto in his endeavors so as to further improve the brat's usefulness at a rate Rai wanted, rather than trying to set up the boy to improve at his own rate and efforts.

Stubborn pride wasn't going to get him out of this cage… Naruto was.

Another thing crossed the kitsune's mind when he thought back to the training manuals and other academy prep documents, and how Naruto had such difficulty in his training and so frequently asked Rai for assistance. Naruto enjoyed his comic books, and routinely read _those_ , despite being adamant that he hated reading...was Naruto lying about his aversion to books? He considered the possibility that maybe the reading material was more advanced than Naruto could handle. Rai had seen Naruto reading them on his own, he attributed Naruto's slog through books as just the boy's stubborn hatred of books. Maybe… maybe that wasn't the case at all, maybe the boy legitimately had a difficult time of reading? The books were simple by Rai's standards, he'd had no trouble at all breezing through the reading material and jotting down notes in his mind. However… Rai wasn't a seven-year-old child.

The reality of it all hit him in the face like a brick. Suddenly he found himself legitimately feeling bad about all of this, if only for making such a terrible judgement call and sabotaging himself inadvertently.

It was really quite simple: Rai _had_ to take a more active role in Naruto's training in order to ensure that the boy would become useful by the kitsune's standards.

Sure, Hiruzen had claimed that he would release Rai, after Rai proved he could be trusted. However, Rai wasn't very keen on simply waiting in this cage for that old fool to make up his mind about him, especially given how low of an opinion everyone else in this accursed village had towards the kitsune.

Besides, part of Rai was suspicious of the Hokage's "promise" and wanted a backup plan in case those suspicions proved to be correct.

However, that backup plan depended entirely upon Naruto.

With a hefty sigh, the kitsune swallowed the last of his pride and called out to the boy.

Naruto hesitantly entered back into the prison after a short time passed. "What is it, wry-fox?"

 **"I... wanted to** _ **apologize,**_ **for-"**

"Being a jerkface?"

The kitsune bit back the angry retort he'd thought up to counter the brat's rude interruption. **"...I was being a hypocrite about all of this. After everything you did to help me, it's only fair that I return the favor."**

Naruto was skeptical of Rai's apology at first, but saw it fit to forgive the kitsune once Rai convinced him he was being serious about it. "You really mean it?"

 **"Yes, I do."**

"You promise?"

 _ **"Yes."**_

"So we're gonna do this together then? You'll help me with my training and stuff?" Rai nodded and does his best to hide his mangled pride.

 **"I will help you with your preliminary academy training, yes."**

"Um, what does preliminary mean?"

 **"Don't worry about it, I'm helping you now, that's all you need to be concerned with."**

Naruto had a smile on his face afterwards, and Rai was moderately concerned over how smoothly things had gone for him.

Rai was very grateful for such a swift resolution to the issue, he was almost certain that it would have taken more effort than what he'd put into it to fix the problem. Either he'd greatly overestimated the extent to which his behavior had damaged his standing with Naruto, or he was underestimating the boy's potential for forgiveness.

He chastised himself quite vigorously for letting it happen in the first place. Rai should have recognized his erroneous perspective of the situation sooner. He'd just have to make up for the time wasted due to his stubborn pride.

* * *

Naruto had wanted to continue with his break from training for a little while longer. Rai obliged, though reminded him daily. It wasn't until the following month that Rai successfully convinced the boy to continue his training, which started off as could be expected. Surprisingly, Naruto wasn't too poorly off in regards to retention from his last training sessions. He was still abysmal, of course, but he wasn't necessarily _worse_ for wear in terms of his skill loss. Then again, it's difficult to become worse than terrible.

The air had gotten considerably colder, forcing Naruto to spend a chunk of his money on a warmer wardrobe, as his previous winter's set simply didn't fit him any longer, despite how much he'd tried to stretch it out. With some assistance from Inoichi and Shikaku, Naruto saved up enough money to buy a scarf and a warm coat. They were "cheap" by your typical villager's standards, not so much for Naruto, but they were effective enough to stave off the threat of frostbite once winter fully kicked into gear. Rai had offered several suggestions to help Naruto stay warm, suggestions that the boy was very grateful for once he figured things out the hard way.

Rai spent a decent amount of time coming up with a schedule for the boy, having him simply running around improperly managing his time wouldn't do at all. First, he had to go through the arduous process of teaching Naruto how to tell time, which itself, was after Rai took a quick refresher on how to read a clock and tell time himself, a much easier process, he would have to say. Once the boy had a grasp of the concept of hours and minutes, Rai set about having Naruto write down the hours of the day and filling in the spaces next to them with things he would be doing, so as to maximize time management and efficiency.

As expected, Naruto claimed he wasn't interested in sticking to a "fancy schedule", and that he just wanted to do whatever came to mind. This proved to not be much of an issue despite its implications, since Rai could simply remind Naruto when he needed to be doing the things on his schedule. He hoped that the boy would eventually start following this schedule on his own, but the current arrangement would have to do for now.

The two spent the next day reading through the beginner's book of taijutsu, getting a grasp of basic fighting technique. Naruto insisted that he dive right into it and work as he went, but Rai argued that it would be much easier if he gained a frame of reference to start from. After a brief argument over their disagreement and some concessions, they agreed to a mix of both. Rai focused on learning what the book had to offer, and Naruto dove headfirst into taijutsu using "trial and error" and a barebones interpretation of the reading material.

Combining these methods would prove to be quite effective in the days that followed. Naruto learning what parts didn't work and what things did "the hard way", combined with Rai pointing out errors and offering corrections based on what was seen in the learning material and smoothing things over; the boy started to make progress.

Tedious progress, but progress, nonetheless.

Rai was moderately concerned with whether or not he would be able to get Naruto to the skill level he believed the academy required him to be at, but the boy was putting forth the effort and certainly didn't lack in optimism. At least, Rai _hoped_ that's what it was.

* * *

Naruto, being the obnoxious kid that he was, didn't hesitate to talk Hiruzen's ear off about every little bit of progress he made every time they visited. The brat having his visits with the Hokage were tolerable, even though the old fool kept insisting on pointlessly greeting Rai. On rare occasions, Hiruzen would even try to strike up a conversation with the kitsune. As much as Rai wanted to tell off the old fool in all manner of colorful ways, he held his temper in check.

Rai humored the Hokage and held brief bits of conversation with him through the boy, if only for the sake of keeping a cooperative visage going. He did not like Hiruzen in the slightest bit, but while his liberation from this prison hung in the balance, he was inclined to keep things civil.

The boy's scheduled sessions with the one called Inoichi, however, were considerably more bothersome. Rai had consistently stayed out of those sessions, and for good reason. One thing Naruto and Rai could agree on without any doubt or argument, was that these sessions were _boring_ and _pointless_. All the man ever did was ask arbitrary questions about the boy's day to day life, inquire about the kitsune, make suggestions about topics Rai couldn't care less about, etc.

It was the "inquiries about the kitsune" that were most annoying for Rai, because Inoichi kept asking and wouldn't take _no_ for an answer. As intelligent as this irritating fool thought he was, he couldn't seem to take a hint. Rai wanted nothing to do with this village or its inhabitants, aside from Naruto and, by proxy, the Hokage. Nevertheless, Inoichi persisted in trying to speak with Rai and include him in Naruto's twice weekly sessions.

Rai repeatedly ignored him, much to Inoichi's growing frustration. That is something that offered the kitsune some manner of amusement from the man.

The one called Shikaku was a lot less annoying, by a large margin. He _was_ still an irritating factor, due to his tendency to take up time from the boy's schedule to teach him about the basics of home living and other such _fascinating_ subjects. Naruto would have much rather been training, but the Hokage had insisted that Naruto cooperate and learn these "necessary life skills", so the boy did. _Technically_ speaking.

Rai had to hand it to Naruto, he knew how to make a mind numbingly boring situation mildly amusing. If there was a ninja art for driving people mad through passive aggressively annoying behavior and shenanigans, Naruto would be the undisputed _king_.

There wasn't a day that Shikaku didn't leave the apartment utterly exasperated.

* * *

(Inoichi's office)

"I swear… I'm gonna go crazy from this troublesome kid's bullshit…" Shikaku said as he lightly hit his head against the wall Inoichi's desk was positioned in front of. Inoichi was busy typing away as he usually did after a session with the Uzumaki child.

"Which was it this time? Was it the pretending not to hear you, the water over the doorway, or the timeless classic of repeating everything you say with a mocking tone?"

"No, none of that this time, and none of his pranks, thankfully. With the amount of effort that kid puts into it, I sometimes think he's intentionally being difficult." Shikaku turned and strolled over to one of the office chairs and casually took a seat.

Inoichi paused from his typing to offer his thoughts. "I think… maybe he _is_ intentionally making things difficult for you. Given his history with caretakers, it's not a far-off possibility. I think he might be expecting you to leave like the other caretakers have."

The thought crossed Shikaku's mind, it _would_ explain Naruto's behavior to an extent. "How about you? Get anything interesting from your sessions lately?"

The typing stopped again. "…Yes and no. Naruto is at an early enough age that he hasn't yet started completely closing himself off from the people around him, which is good. However, I've yet to so much as hold a conversation with his _friend_. The boy seems less than eager to initiate conversation with me, but he's cooperative when I ask him questions and usually holds conversation when _I_ initiate. We've still got that one going for us, which I can use to gain at least a tiny bit of insight into Rai's personality and behavior."

Shikaku cursed under his breath. "Troublesome… so are they at least getting along?" The typewriter jammed at that moment, causing Inoichi to groan in mild frustration and forcing him to stop to fix it. The man fiddled with the paper slot and tried to unstick the mechanical typing arm. He eventually managed to get it, but not until after he spent a good deal of time shaking the writing machine and swearing at it after each failed attempt.

"Much better… _ahem_ , yes, Rai and Naruto seem to be getting along. Unfortunately, it's almost impossible for me to figure out what sort of relationship they have; if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say it was a sort of mutual understanding more than anything. Naruto has a high opinion of his friend at any rate…"

After a few moments passed, and Inoichi had gotten back to his typing, Shikaku finally said. "Hey, I'm sure that we'll get there soon enough. Just keep trying, the big bastard _has_ to cave in eventually, right?"

Inoichi nodded. "We can only hope." The typewriter jammed again, causing Inoichi to smack his hand against the desk in frustration, "For the love of the heavens..."

"You know, they _do have_ a significantly newer model of that..." SHikaku offered to his exasperated friend.

Inoichi shook his head and got to work trying to fix the jam again, "I know, I just prefer the classics over those newer models."

* * *

(Naruto's apartment)

It was roughly mid-January by the time Naruto managed to nail down some of what the book had to offer. Given that Rai and Naruto were limited to the book as a frame of reference, they could only guess at what skill level the academy expected him to be at.

 **"You're doing fairly well, Naruto. While I'm not very impressed with the** _ **rate**_ **of your progress, I concede that it is at least consistent and can be called** _ **progress**_ **. Hopefully, this rate of improvement will be enough to get you to the skill level you need to be at by the time you reach the academy."** The boy gave a fist pump at that and declared.

"I'll just have to get better at getting better then!" Rai had to admit, he appreciated the kid's enthusiasm, naïve as it was.

Naruto guzzled down a cup of water before he went and strapped on the makeshift weapons pouch and threw on his winter gear. **"Going on one of your snowbound adventures again?"**

"You and your weird phrases. You should be one of those guys that writes the fancy quotes people like to say." Rai laughed with a smirk and then replied, " **I'll keep that in mind.** "

Naruto grinned and headed outside into the waiting winter environment. Under normal circumstances, he'd be perfectly content staying inside and continuing with his practice.

Given that it was January, and Konoha had a layer of snow covering it, the boy was _not_ going to do that. The snow, and the fun it promised, was calling his name.

* * *

(Konoha streets)

Naruto spent the next three hours goofing off and enjoying the fresh snowfall. The later hour and a half of that time saw him setting up his "pranks": simple little traps that consisted of snowballs placed precariously into several doorways, set to fall upon the heads of unsuspecting villagers who walked out of the rigged doors.

After several of these pranks were carried out successfully, as could be determined by the outraged cries of villagers in the distance, Rai offered a comment. **"You know, according to the books I've read-"**

"The books that _we've_ read."

 **"...Yes** , **the books that** _ **we've**_ **read, you might have an applicable use for some of these pranks of yours."**

Naruto was about to ask what the kitsune meant, but one of his traps went off early before the boy could get some distance away from it. The understandably irate individual who's head now sported a lump of snow had immediately targeted Naruto as the culprit. Technically, the boy _was_ the culprit, but the individual had no way to prove it, not that it ever stopped them in these kind of scenarios.

Naruto bolted without hesitation, knowing full well what would happen next and not wanting to allow the individual the chance to get a head-start.

As expected, the angered villager took off after Naruto, shouting all manner of profanities at the boy. It didn't matter if Naruto was innocent or not, all that mattered in these situations was that he wasn't caught.

Several minutes passed, Naruto was hiding in a nearby alleyway after he'd doubled back and taken a few detours to try and throw his pursuer off his tracks. Rai felt a faint ping, a sensation in his mind that was gradually getting closer to Naruto's location.

The sensation felt familiar, there was _anger_ from someone that was gradually getting thought about what the feeling was, what it meant, struggling to come up with an explanation for it when his attention was drawn to the angry declaration of: "Found you, demon brat!"

The angry individual from before had been joined by several other villagers who'd fallen victim to the boy's 'innocent snowball pranks'.

Naruto was off and running for his life again, not that his life was actually in any danger, but the boy wasn't keen on finding out what the slowly growing crowd of people would have done to get payback against him. He crisscrossed and ducked and weaved around the surrounding area, hoping to confuse the villagers chasing him. From there, he took off towards, and eventually _into_ , the woods.

Rai was almost certain that what he was sensing now, he had felt before. He recalled the instance during the festival when Naruto accidentally "interrupted" the celebrating residents after falling from a roof. Yes, the sensation he felt then was very similar to the one he felt now, almost exactly the same. He remembered the villagers from before, the anger they projected towards Naruto; at the time he hadn't been paying much attention to _where_ the anger was coming from, only that he could _feel_ it.

The kitsune pondered this sensation, trying to pinpoint where it was originating from and what activated it, if it had been something activated at all, he had limited success as far as figuring out the aspects of this newfound ability, but he at least understood one basic functionality of it.

Rai could sense the man's anger, as well as the crowd that came after, and could tell more or less where they all were by these emissions. The kitsune was able to sense where they were… based on their anger.

There was something else though, something that came along after Rai put thought into this strange ability of his.

He… _recognized_ this ability, it had a familiarity about it, but he couldn't put his finger on where or when he recalled having such an ability. Rai guessed that this was likely something he had prior to being sealed, and that he simply hadn't been able to remember that he _could_ do such a thing. This was backed by the instance where he hadn't remembered what _chakra_ was, despite obviously having been familiar with it and easily being able to understand how it worked and familiarized himself with it in a short amount of time.

The kitsune briefly wondered what other sorts of potential he had hidden away by this troublesome memory loss. He made a mental note to keep probing his mind every so often to see what tidbits of information he could find, hoping he would get lucky and discover something significant.

Rai didn't hold his breath, though…

* * *

(Konoha woods)

Naruto spent the next dozen minutes or so keeping an eye out for the crowd and staying hidden in a pile of branches and snow, though he was pretty sure he lost them. Once he was certain they were no longer following him, he left his hiding spot and went deeper into the woods.

The air was crisp, untrodden snow giving satisfying crunches underfoot. It was a nice day for a walk in the woods, that was for sure. Naruto found himself wishing Rai was right there next to him, walking through the snow. He could see it in his mind, the two of them running through the snow-covered village and playing the kinds of games he frequently saw the other kids playing together and had so desperately wanted to join.

 _'That_ _ **will**_ _happen!'_ He stated in his mind and went on to remember that he and Rai _would_ eventually be able to do all these things at some point.

A thought popped into his mind, causing him to let out a laugh and come to a stop. Rai was _huge_ compared to him, if he'd been here right now next to Naruto, the kitsune would be knocking over all of these trees! That would have been _awesome_!

Unless… maybe Rai _wasn't_ big, and Naruto was just small in that prison place Rai was locked up in?

He leaned over and scooped up a handful of snow, fumbling with the crystalline powder until it formed a coherent shape and started to pack together. After a few moments of fiddling around, he made a vaguely square shape out of the snow and grinned.

"Hey, Rai, check it out!" Naruto said as he held the little snow square up into the light.

 **"It's snow, what an amazing discovery."** Rai said with a subtle amount of sarcasm.

Naruto pressed on. "I call it, Yukiriken!"

The big fox let out a hefty groan. **"** _ **Snow**_ **-riken? Seriously?** _ **Again**_ **with the crappy names and puns** **?"**

Naruto snorted at Rai's response and quickly shot back. "Your names aren't any better, and you just have a crappy sense of humor! Yukiriken is a great name, and it's funny!"

 _ **"No,**_ **it's a terrible name, and worse: it's a** _ **pun**_ **. It isn't even a** _ **good**_ **pun either."** Rai quipped equally as quickly.

Their brief back and forth was brought to an end as Naruto's attention was drawn to several figures in the distance.

Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a group of kids, four of them, one was roughly Naruto's age by the looks of it, and three were a bit taller. They seemed to be having an argument, or something, it was hard to tell. Three of the kids, the slightly taller ones, were off to one side, with the fourth standing a bit away from them.

Naruto crept forward, soon being able to hear some of what was being said.

"-told you to get outa here ya pale eyed freak!"

"Yeah, get lost, ugly! Nobody wants freaks like you around here!" Were some of many insults and jeers being aimed at the fourth figure, whom Naruto guessed was a girl, given her appearance.

The closer he got, the more he could see her better. She had dark blue hair and white eyes with no pupils. She appeared to be trying to ignore the taunting, though the tears in her eyes showed that it was getting to her despite her efforts. It was also apparent that they'd pelted her with a few snowballs, on account of the telltale blotches of snow clinging to her jacket in places, and the fact that one of the bullying kids was starting to make a fresh batch of snowballs.

When the girl saw Naruto, she turned away, expecting him to antagonize her just as the other kids were. However, one of the trio spotted Naruto and announced. "Oh, hey, look who it is, the _demon fox_!"

"No way, the king of the freaks! Guess those hideous pale eyes are freak magnets!"

 **"Well now, this lot seems friendly."** Rai idly commented with obvious sarcasm.

"Hey, jerkwads! Leave her alone!" Naruto shouted, much to the kitsune's surprise.

 **"What do you think you're doing?"**

"The hell does it _look_ like I'm doing? I'm gonna help that girl, and teach these three idiots a lesson!"

Rai let out a sigh, figuring that there was no stopping the blonde fool from doing this. **"Just… be careful while you're playing** _ **hero**_ **."**

The three antagonistic kids had heard _both_ insults from Naruto, and were equal parts angered by that and a bit weirded out from having seen the blonde talking to himself.

"I'm gonna clean your clock, fox-boy!" The apparent leader of the three stated boldly before advancing on Naruto.

Thinking quickly, and recalling the one thing he was reliably _good_ at in his training, he cocked his arm back and shouted. "Yukiriken!" He flung the vaguely square shaped snow clump like he would a real shuriken. It was aimed right at the advancing bully's face, but the spinning clump of snow fragmented and turned to powder halfway to its intended impact point due to centrifugal force and the fact that it was made of snow.

This had the effect of hurling snow dust right into the leader's face and eyes, causing him to let out a yelp and come to a screeching halt before clasping his hands to his face to try and brush away the stinging cold powder.

Naruto was just as surprised as the bully. ' _Holy crap, I can't believe that worked!_ '

Rai jumped in and shouted. **"Don't just stand there; press the initiative and** _ **punch**_ **him!"** Hearing this, Naruto lunged forward in a move like what he'd practiced and landed a solid punch right into the nose of the momentarily stunned bully, sending him to the ground with an audible thud and outcry of pain.

The bully clutched his nose and rolled around on the ground, wailing as if his whole face had been broken.

The girl was quite surprised by this turn of events, looking to the blonde haired boy with a sense of awe. Naruto was equally surprised, he actually managed to beat the jerk, he won! He couldn't wait to-

He felt the impact of the larger bully's fist into his cheek and saw the world tilting rapidly until his body hit the ground. He'd been too preoccupied with his gloating to notice that the other two bullies weren't intent on just standing around after Naruto punched their friend. Now he was paying the price for his lack of awareness, albeit with the knowledge that he'd managed to take one of them out of the fight first, which, can be called a success for him.

He did his best to shield himself from the two person pummeling that followed, but he still suffered some nasty hits here and there.

When the two bullies stopped a few seconds later, Naruto tried to sit up, noticing both that he was missing his scarf, and the obvious pain he felt in several places from where the bullies had landed good kicks.

The two bullies had taken it and offered it to their "leader" as compensation for the blonde having bloodied his nose. That was, of course, _after_ their leader managed to pick himself up off the ground, leaving behind a splotch of red in the snow.

"Dat idiod id godda pay for didth!" The leader tried to say, his clogged nostrils making every word he said sound _hilarious_ despite his best efforts to sound intimidating. Plus, the fact that everything below the jerk's nose was smeared with red and snot helped diminish his intimidation factor considerably.

The humorous display caused Naruto to snicker, and the pale eyed girl to giggle, though the girl did her best to hide it.

This, of course, infuriated the nose clogged leader. "Yer bode godda ged id! Ged em guyd!" The speech impaired bully said while angrily pointing to the girl and Naruto both.

Naruto's face hurt, and so did several other parts of his body, there was an ache in his leg that made it hard to stand, but he wasn't about to let that stop him.

He hastily got to his feet despite the pain and stood between the girl and the three bullies. "Ha! Didth idiodth godda play da hero!" The leader said, getting a laugh from the other two."Wadth da baby hero godda do?"

Imitating how he thought Rai would act, Naruto smirked and replied. "I could punch you in the face again, worked well enough the last time, right?"

If the nose clogged leader wasn't furious before, he was now. He let out a scream and charged at Naruto, his lackeys in tow.

In a moment of inspiration, Naruto took a common shinobi pose that he'd seen in his comics and quickly popped into the fox's cage. "Quick, Rai! Show me some of those ninja hand signs!"

 **"What? Why?"**

"Just _trust_ me, wry-fox!" The kitsune rolled his eyes and slowly formed a few of the shinobi handsigns for the kid to repeat.

In reality, Naruto imitated the handsigns that the kitsune was showing him. "You jerks are toast! Take _this_!"

The bullies immediately halted their advance and had a horrified look on their faces upon seeing the blonde forming the handsigns for a jutsu.

"Oh, crap baskets, he's a freaking ninja!" They'd heard stories about all sorts of crazy things that shinobi could do with their ninjutsu, and although the blonde haired punk didn't look like a shinobi, the leader of the trio wasn't keen on finding out the hard way.

"Ledth Ged ouda here!"

"I'm telling my parents about this, devil-fox! You'll be sorry!"

Naruto's scarf was left in a dirty mess on the ground as the trio left at high speed. The bluff paid off far better than expected, even Rai was impressed by the outcome.

He stuck his tongue out at the fading silhouettes of the bully trio, but his attention was drawn back to the girl when she spoke. "Th-that…that was…y-you were-" Naruto interrupted in an excited tone, " _Awesome_ , right?" The girl meekly nodded a few times.

 **"You know, a** _ **little**_ **modesty wouldn't kill you…"**

At this point, the boy took the opportunity to investigate the blue haired girl's pale white eyes. He leaned in and squinted, getting a closer look. The girl had a blush forming on her cheeks due to the ever closing proximity between herself and the blonde haired boy.

"...Your eyes… are you from a clan?"

 **"** _ **This**_ **again?"** The fox said incredulously.

The girl had a confused and unsure expression on her face. "I-I….uhm…" Her words were incoherent and faded into minute squeaks.

Naruto cocked his head to one side, trying to figure out if what she'd said was a tangible answer, "Uhh… what was that?"

After a brief "back and forth", Naruto gave up with the shy girl.

"Ookay then... nevermind." He said as he ceased leaning toward her.

Naruto briefly thought back to the scuffle he had with the lead bully, and snickered as he remembered how the one bully sounded with his blood-clogged nose.

"Hey, hey, did you _hear_ that guy when he spoke? He sounded like he didn't have any nostrils!" He managed to say through bits of giggling and snickering. Naruto then proceeded to mimic the bully and his inflicted speech impairment, much to the amusement of the girl.

They both had a laugh, though, the girl was more giggling than laughing.

Naruto caught his breath and settled down after a few good moments. "Anyway… I've got Ninja training to get back to. See-ya!" He turned with a light wave of his hand and was about to walk away when the girl spoke up.

" _A-Arigatō_!", she managed to say. Naruto thought he misheard her, so he turned around to face her with a quizzical look.

"Whuzzat?" Was what he said in response.

The girl simply restated what she'd said, "Th-thank you…!"

Naruto waved it off with a grin, "You bet, those guys were being jerks."

The girl went over to the scarf and gently scooped it up out of the snow, then attempted to hand it over to Naruto after she stood back up. "H-here… this was your scarf, right?"

Naruto received it and brushed off the dirt and snow, "Thanks! I almost forgot about it." He shook off the rest of the debris and draped it back around his neck where it belonged. "Much better."

Naruto turned to leave once again, but he stopped himself, wincing from the pain on his left leg and glanced back at the pale eyed girl first. "Oh, hey, don't listen to what those jerks said. I think your eyes are kinda neat, and you aren't ugly at all!" With that, he headed off deeper into the woods.

The pale eyed girl watched with a light blush to her cheeks as the strange, yellow-haired hero left. She eventually turned and continued on her way, unsure what to think of the boy and this encounter.

* * *

Nearby, Fox turned to Cat and gave a whisper, "Make a report and inform the Hokage."

"Back to bossing me around again, gotcha. Off the record, I think you're being a little paranoid. Once those idiot's parents figure out who their dumb kids were harassing, they're gonna shit bricks." Cat whispered in response. In a brief flicker of movement and a poof of snow, Cat was gone, leaving Fox to follow Naruto and keep watch.

* * *

 **"That was quite clever, playing the deception/intimidation card like that."** Naruto certainly didn't shy away from the praise.

"I can't believe I actually won!"

 **"By technicality, but I suppose it's still a win.** " Naruto fist pumped, though, quickly recoiled with a low "ow".

 **"How's the leg?"**

Naruto put a hand to his thigh and felt around, tilting his head and testing the limits of his leg before saying. "That's weird…it doesn't hurt as much as it did earlier..."

Rai cocked his head and furrowed his brow. **"It… doesn't? I thought for sure they did some significant damage back there**. **"**

"Looks like they didn't, good for me though, right?"

The kitsune supposed he shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. The kid not having to deal with down time due to being injury was a good turn of events. However, that didn't change the fact that he was almost certain that Naruto had suffered significant damage to his knee and hip from the imbeciles he encountered earlier. No, he _knew_ that they had done damage, he shouldn't be so well off as he is currently, even some of the bruises he'd had were less pronounced than what they were earlier. Rai _wasn't_ seeing things, the only explanation was that Naruto must have healed. Though something in the kitsune's mind told him that this was unusual, Rai seemed to recall that he himself recovered quickly after injuring himself. Naruto's quick recovery wasn't so different than his own, so was it really that strange?

Either way… there was more to this kid than he previously assumed.

* * *

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 _ **(Author's Notes)**_

Gonna be completely honest.

This story came close to dying this chapter, it went through a literal development HELL.

I rewrote and rewrote the sequences of this chapter more times than I can recall, at one point I rewrote the entire chapter from scratch, everything.

I apologize again for how long this took.

OK, so, this chapter we have world building, character development, and meaningful development between the boy and his giant fox friend.

Rai goes through some much needed critical thinking this chapter, and will set the stage for further development. I tried to write out his sequence of thought in as reasonable and un-forced a manner as possible, trying to stay true to the kind of character he's shaping up to be. I needed certain things to happen this chapter to set up for what's going to happen in the future, but I also didn't want to just wave a magic narrator wand and _make_ it happen, ya know? Hopefully, his sequences were believable

Additionally, I want to emphasize that a lot of Rai's development has been done from _his_ perspective, meaning things can be going on but he's not telling it like it is. Hint hint.

I want their relationship to progress at a believable rate to get where I eventually want it to be, I've seen far too many fics with forced relationships that, while they're nice, they're forced. I don't want forced.

Naruto gets more character development, and we get some hints at backstory and explanation for some of his behavior. I don't want to just use Inoichi as exposition to explain away everything, but I also don't want to leave people in the dark in regards to what happened in his life prior to the start of this story. I'm trying to go for a balance.

Hopefully, I'm getting his character more in tune with how he normally is in the series, my biggest fear has and continues to be, struggling to make sure Naruto feels like Naruto.

More of our usual fare with Hiruzen and the others. Some addressing of previous ideas and in story explanations for why I decided against them (well the actual reasons were more complicated than what's said in story)

I'm avoiding going too in depth with Inoichi and SHikaku's assistanc, for the sake of moving the plot along.

Some more character development for Jun too.

OK, as for the japanese versus english thingy, I have a plan set up based heavily upon a suggestion made by a reader. I don't like the inconsistency seen too far often with most fanfics where they include japanese terms and language without any context as to why they do this. It's just there because "reasons".

I'm changing that up and offering a semblance of explanation for how my story handles it. I'll explain it in a little more detail in the academy arc, but I didn't want to just shoehorn Japanese into the story and not give explanation for it. (This is one of my biggest pet peeves in Fanfiction)

Also, I'm sure everyone know's who the girl at the end is.

One final thing before we close this up. I've made some serious decisions regarding the direction of this story. I originally planned for it to be a "divergent" style fanfic, which kept in tune with the canon (hence why I called it loosely canon) However, given certain changes and alterations I've made in the story (or am planning to make), I'm thinking it's more of an "AU" technically. Its going to keep a similar core to canon Naruto, but I won't hesitate to dig in and get creative with things now.

Well, honestly I'd like _your_ feedback in that regard.

Part of what took these chapters so long was my indecisiveness and struggle between wanting to be creative, versus not wanting to change anything too much from canon (Stupid, I know)

anyways, that's all for now, hope you enjoyed. Leave a review if you like, or PM me. Either is fine by me.

Don't forget to sign in to my Forum!


	11. Chapter 11: Full steam ahead?

**Hello again! It's been a while! Yeah, I know, I've been kicking myself over this infuriating period of time I haven't uploaded anything.**

I won't bore you with excuses you've probably heard before, nor will I make you have to wait any longer for the next chapter.

SO I'm just gonna use this pre-Author's note to do something productive instead!

General Questions

 _"Is Naruto going to be stronger/smarter than he is in the anime?"_

This is a difficult question to answer, because its _reeeally_ complicated.

First and foremost, _technically_ speaking: **no** , Naruto isn't going to be "Stronger" than his Anime counterpart, it's more going to be a parallel in strength level, if that makes any sense. What I mean is, he's going to have a way bigger arsenal at his disposal than his anime counterpart ever did, so in _that_ sense he's gonna be stronger. He's also going to have a bit more skill and talent under his belt (thanks to the big fox).It seems kind of silly to try and measure strength, if I'm being honest here. Additionally, I should point out that Rai has potential here too. So just because Naruto _technically_ isn't going to be "stronger" than his anime counterpart, that doesn't mean all that much in the grand scheme of things. It'll make sense as we progress, I promise. (if it doesn't I'll try to explain it in another QA session)

Technically speaking, Naruto isn't going to be "smarter", as his intelligence in the anime is pretty sporadic and I'd be hard pressed to give any semblance of a baseline to base my answer off of. In this fic, I'm going to have his intellect be more...consistent. I've tried to make it a point to show that Naruto isn't dumb at all, he's just _uneducated_. There's a difference between being smart and being educated.

TL;DR: Naruto is going to have a better arsenal but isn't gonna be "stronger", he's also moderately smart but uneducated.

" _Can you make the kyuubi a girl?_ "

Rai is technically genderless, I might explore the topic a bit further later on. As of right now, he is "masculine" in personality, and I'm leaving it at that. I do not have any intention of making my kyuubi female, even though I do find the idea of fem-kyuubi to be interesting (when done right).

" _Can Rai take on human form?"_

No, personally I do _not_ care for the whole "human kyuubi" shtick, and I have no intention of having Rai take on human figure.

So there we have a few general questions answered. It amuses me that people still ask about making the kyuubi be a girl.

Please remember to drop me a PM if you have any questions, believe me, I'm more than happy to hold a conversation with you concerning the story, story ideas and the like. I love getting reader input.

Without further ado, here's chapter eleven!

 **Disclaimer: Cynical Kyuubi does not own Naruto, this is Fanfiction, made for fun. Please enjoy.**

* * *

( **Hokage's office: the next day** )

"Something needs to be done about that menace! He's gone too far this time!" Was the last of the statements practically yelled at the Hokage. The individuals behind such outraged statements being the parents of the three children who stood before Hiruzen's desk.

The child in front had a heavy bandage covering his nose and bits of gauze stuffed into his nostrils, and he was trying to pretend to be far more injured than he actually was.

Hiruzen sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose in exasperation. He'd been listening to the parents of these three children rant for roughly an hour now about how "the demon child" had "brutalized" their "innocent boy", or something of that sort. The Hokage had largely ignored the details, especially after they played the all too telling "proof of Naruto's misdeeds" card.

That particularly unoriginal and irksome tactic consisted of drumming up all manner of things that Naruto had _supposedly_ done in the past as a fallacious means of safeguarding their story from any scrutiny.

This sort of thing wasn't _common_ , but it happened with enough frequency that it had long overstayed its welcome and made him wish he could simply disregard such claims entirely. Unfortunately, as Hokage, he had to at least humor these sorts of individuals with an "investigation" into Naruto's deeds, usually ending in little more than a "slap on the wrist" for the boy once it was inevitably shown that there was no tangible proof behind the vast majority of the accusations levied against the poor child.

However, this time, things were quite different. Cat had made her report of the occurrence and spared no details, so Hiruzen knew exactly what had transpired and he had a tangible copy of the report.

The old man cleared his throat before addressing the irate parents and their indignant children. "So, Naruto Uzumaki just _attacked_ your son, for no reason? Am I understanding you correctly?"

The parent of the child with the bandaged nose stepped forward, "That's exactly what we're saying, my son wouldn't lie to me! Now, what are you going to do? Surely, you _have_ to reprimand that demonic troublemaker! Look at my poor boy, his nose was nearly broken beyond repair!" The bandaged nose child followed suit, and declared: "Dad idiod buthded by doze! I did't do adythid! He'd a big bully!"

Hiruzen nodded, "Hmm, I see…" He took the paper with Cat's report on it and gave it a wave to draw the parent's attention to it. "I have an eyewitness report of the incident here…It's odd that you never mentioned the Hyuuga heiress being at the scene. I wonder why you would leave out such an important detail?"

Upon hearing this, the parent's disposition seemed to take a one-eighty. "The… Hyuuga heiress?" The man cast a glance down to his son. "You… didn't tell me anything about the Hyuuga heiress being there." His son quickly retorted with, "Dats nod drue! Dey're lyink!"

The Hokage lifted his brow in amused fashion, "You're calling a veteran shinobi a liar? That is a very serious accusation to make." Hiruzen then took on a much more serious expression before going on. "Young man, I suggest you _not_ accuse someone else of lying, given your current situation." He then held out the paper to the boy's father, who received the document and began reading over it. The parent's expression went from that of disbelief, to a mix of horror and mortification. He shakily handed the document to the rest of the parents for them to read over, all of them having similar reactions before handing it back. The man then gave the document back to the Hokage and immediately took his son by the hand.

"We're going to have a serious talk about this when we get home…" He said, his voice just barely above a whisper.

"Our sincerest apologies, Hokage-sama, we won't waste any more of your time." Was what one of the other parents said to follow up.

The parents were about to turn and leave, all equally discouraged, when Hiruzen addressed them once more. "I'm glad to see that we've brought this incident to a close without any unnecessary drama unfolding. I trust this won't lead to any unfortunate incidents in the future? It would be regrettable to have to involve the Hyuuga clan over something as trivial as kids being kids…"

The parents got the message loud and clear, and hurriedly left the Hokage's office.

The Sandaime lit his pipe and had a smoke once the office door shut, very glad to have that headache finally be over. ' _Naruto-kun, you simply can't stay out of trouble, can you?'_ The old man thought to himself with a smirk. It was a refreshing change of pace to have the topic of Naruto be discussed in his office over something morally justified for once.

* * *

( **Naruto's apartment** )

Naruto had completely recovered from his sustained injuries by the following day. He wasted no time in getting right back into his shinobi training, something that Rai appreciated and praised the boy for. "You know, If I hadn't started training when I did, I bet I'd have gotten my butt kicked by those punks." He stated as he threw a series of aimed punches into his makeshift punching bag.

" **Well, you still** _ **did**_ **… so…"** The kitsune said. Though Naruto just laughed it off.

"Yeah, sure, that lead jerk's goons pummeled me, _after_ I made his nose visit his brain."

 **"That** **you did, but next time, you need to be able to handle all three, not just the leader."**

"That's the plan!" Naruto said as he landed a final punch and concluded his taijutsu practice for the time being.

 **"Good to hear, though for future reference, it would be unwise to go starting fights when you don't need to."** The boy's response was exactly as expected, an assortment of resentful grumbling along the lines of, "They started it."

The boy plopped down in the foldup chair he'd acquired to replace his repurposed kitchen chair, scooting over to the table and opening the book of taijutsu once more. "Alright, so… where do we go from here?" He asked aloud, the kitsune responding shortly after.

 **"That's difficult to say, this book says it goes over all the 'basic concepts' and helps in 'understanding the premise of taijutsu for the aspiring shinobi', though what the book** _ **means**_ **by all that is left to interpretation."** Rai went on. **"Your punches are much more accurate and efficient than they were when you started, at least according to the book as my reference. You've got good power behind them, enough so that you knocked that punk to the ground. I'm no expert on the subject, but I assume your current level of taijutsu should be acceptable standards for entering the academy. It might be a good idea to start a new subject."**

Naruto thumbed through the book once before slapping it closed and looking over the rest of the reading material. "Well, I think I've got an idea of what I need to do next, but…" He trailed off.

Rai nodded and gave a quiet laugh, **"Yes, you'll have to do more of the dreaded** _ **reading**_ **, the bane of your existence**."

"The what of my _what_ -now _?_ "

Rai exhaled softly before stating. **"Kid, you** _ **need**_ **to broaden your vocabulary."**

Naruto folded his arms and had his typical indignant look as he shot out. "I'm _trying_ , but you keep using new words that I don't know! Why can't you just keep it simple?"

The boy shook his head with a sigh before reaching and pulling a few of the scrolls and books to the front of himself and then briefly looking them over. "OK, next step in the ninja stuff…" He said aloud, casting a look over the reading material and trying to decide which one to choose. It came as a mild surprise to the kitsune that Naruto elected to open _all_ of the reading material at once and put it on display before him, rather than taking his time with one book or scroll at a time.

"Stand back Rai, I've got this!" The boy proclaimed with an air punch of determination, which was followed by him acting out focusing on the various articles of reading material lain out before him. " _Ninja reading no jutsu_!"

* * *

It was barely a half hour later that Rai found the boy with his head face-down on the table and emitting a sound reminiscent of a worn-out air conditioning unit, kind of like the one in the apartment. **"Is it safe to assume you have bit off more than you could chew?"** The muffled response that came from the blonde was confirmation enough. The kitsune chuckled. **"I'll take that as a** _ **yes**_ **. You sure you don't want me to lend a hand?"**

Naruto lifted his head from the table before giving a hasty reply of, "No, I've got this!"

Rai gave the boy a knowing look. **"Really? From where I'm sitting, it looks to me like you're overloading yourself."**

The sheepish look Naruto had, despite the boy adamantly insisting that he was fine and that he could handle the workload, was convincing enough. **"Naruto, you need to pace yourself. Struggling to read over your capacity isn't clever, it's asinine. Overworking yourself isn't going to get you prepared any faster, if anything, it's going to slow you down and make things worse. Do what you're capable of handling, not what you** _ **wish**_ **you could do."**

The kitsune quickly added under his breath. **"Though it would make things all the easier if you** _ **could**_ **handle that much reading at once…"**

"I can do it! I _can!_ Watch me!" And again, Naruto set about trying to pretend like he could handle the many books he had opened, that he had adequate multitasking skills for this situation. " _Shinobi reading no jutsu_!"

Rai raised an eyebrow and thought to himself, ' _ **Does he really think that's going to do anything? Or…is he doing that for dramatic effect?**_ '

* * *

Forty minutes later, Rai found the kid unsurprisingly facedown on the table again and making a similar noise as last time. This time, however it was more akin to the old refrigerator, like the one in the apartment.

 **"** … **I don't have the patience for this."** The huge fox said in a tired manner. **"Alright, boy, you tried it your way and failed, we're doing this the way that we know works."**

"But reading through all these one at a time is gonna take _forever_!"

 **"And that would be better than** _ **never**_ **finishing them at** _ **all,**_ **due to you burning yourself out trying to read all of them at once like an idiot!"** Rai peered over the books as best as he could. **"Focus, boy, I can't see the material."**

Naruto mumbled under his breath and leaned so that they could better read the book closest to him.

* * *

 **(Outside Naruto's apartment)**

Cat landed next to Fox and crouched in position. Fox acknowledged her and gave an inquisitive tilt of his head to which she replied in the usual whisper. "You called it, almost perfectly. I guess it's a good thing you had me deliver that report to Hokage-sama after all. Figures your paranoia would come in handy _eventually_."

The fox masked ANBU hummed in acknowledgement and then signaled in hand signs. " _Eyes up_?"

In response, Cat raised a hand into the proper ninja handsign and activated her Dojutsu.

" _I've got him, same position as earlier._ " She signed in response.

After a short period of time, the Cat masked ANBU leaned closer to Fox and spoke lightly. "You know, for someone who claims they hate being around other people, you sure have a talent for predicting them."

Fox let out a low hum, then answered in his own means with his eyes peeled and his other senses focused around the child's apartment, "You give me too much credit; the villagers make it easy for me in terms of how they typically act towards the kid. I'm surprised you aren't seeing it as easily as I am, given how long we've both been doing this."

"Seriously? An eyesight joke? C'mon Fox, you gotta do better than that." Cat said in a playful manner, much to Fox's lack of amusement.

"Don't be cute, you know what I meant."

Cat clicked her tongue in disappointment. "Do you always have to be so serious? It's like you become a different person when the mask goes on."

"...Said the cat-masked ANBU that makes no effort to mask her personality while on the job, for roughly the millionth time." Fox added to his teammate's sentence in a narrative tone. He then went on to say in his regular tone of voice, "Considering the task at hand, I would think you'd take this just as seriously as I do."

The cat masked ANBU stifled an indignant laugh, "I wasn't aware that having a stick up my ass was a requirement in meeting the criteria for _taking my work seriously_.", adding a snarky tone at the end.

Fox turned his head slowly to squint at Cat from behind his mask. "What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"I think you know the answer to that already." Cat said, her arms folded and her head cocked to the side in a smug manner.

"…You just won't let that go, will you?"

"Pff, for you? Never." And with that, the two ANBU sat concealed at their posts and silently continued to observe the Kyuubi's container from the nearby rooftop.

* * *

"What the hell is up with these books?! These things don't teach us anything! They just go on and on about the stuff that goes _into_ ninjutsu, but they don't give anything to practice with! What good is knowing handsigns and all this other crap without knowing anything to _use_ it with, _dattebayo_?!" Was the frustrated outcry of Naruto after roughly a week and a half's worth of reading through " _An Introductory to Ninjutsu for the Aspiring Shinobi_ " and other such Ninjutsu books and scrolls.

The boy went on in a tone that reeked of equal parts disappointment and frustration. "Ninjutsu books that don't teach you ninjutsu, that's the dumbest thing I ever heard of! Useless junk!" With that, he shoved the books and scrolls across his table, causing them to collide with the others in a heap.

Rai withheld his criticism on the boy's failure to appreciate the knowledge the reading material contained. Trying to argue the point that the books and scrolls _did_ offer useful information was a lesson in futility with Naruto. Instead, he chose to offer consolation and an attempt to make sure at least some of the knowledge stuck with the kid. **"I'm as disappointed as you are, but at least you know what the hand signs are for, and what they each mean, right? You know chakra limitation and the basics behind what goes into ninjutsu. You're taking steps in the right direction, that's what counts."**

"Yeah, I guess so…", the boy admitted with a slightly less disappointed tone than he had just a minute earlier, "Who the heck decided to name those ninjutsu signs after animals though? You think they'd name 'em after weapons or something cool!"

 **"You really don't have any room in criticizing** _ **anyone**_ **about how they name things."** Naruto scrunched up his face momentarily in response, and was in the process of voicing his rebuttal right as Rai continued and cut him off. **"You'll need to start working with your chakra at some point. I'm familiar enough with it that it should be easy getting you started without having to depend entirely on the books. But you'll still need to use them as reference material."**

Naruto paused for a moment before voicing his thoughts. "Didn't we already do that? You know, back when we were still trying to figure out what you were?"

Rai snorted in response, **"That's** _ **hardly**_ **something I would consider being remotely close to adequate training, even for a beginner. That was just dabbling in the subject, nothing more. We did that for, what? An hour at most?"**

Naruto folded his arms and thought about it for a bit before he sighed in defeat. "Fiiine, I'll work on that next… can I take a break for a bit first? I've been at this non-stop!"

The kitsune rolled his eyes and gestured with his hands as he spoke. **"If you** _ **want**_ **to waste valuable time goofing around, I suppose you could. Keep in mind though, we don't have a lot of time before you need to enroll in the academy."**

"Pff, we've got _plenty_ of time! A whole year!" The boy said dismissively.

 _ **'He's hardly been at this "non-stop", but he's been putting in solid effort, at least, solid relative to his norm.'**_ Rai justified in his mind, knowing full well that it was more difficult, and a substantial waste of time and effort, to try and persuade Naruto into _not_ doing something he wanted to do. There were some notable exceptions though.

Rai laid down and quietly observed as he normally did, resigning to letting the boy have his "break" for now. Naruto haphazardly stacked the books at the end of his table, then went over to his front door before throwing on his winter outfit and leaving his apartment.

There was a fresh coating of snow over Konoha, though the majority of the streets were cleared by now, enough so that there were villagers out and about. Perfect conditions to go wandering the village in.

One good thing about winter, in Naruto's case, was that the majority of the villagers were too preoccupied with staying warm or dealing with the snowfall to pay him much mind. That is, unless he did something to get their attention, such as a ball of snow impacting the back of an unsuspecting head.

It was a nice little silver lining to this time of year, one that Naruto came to take full advantage of... by squandering it in every conceivable way he could. So, essentially, it was just like any other day, but with more ways he could entertain himself.

Naruto casually strolled through the village, no specific destination in mind. He figured that something would pop into his head eventually, and he'd run off and do that thing when it did. Until then, wandering aimlessly was just fine for him.

His wandering unsurprisingly brought him past Ramen Ichiraku, and although Rai had his justified suspicions, it was undecided whether or not he'd intentionally swung by. The ramen bar was packed with individuals looking for a cheap, quick, hot meal. Naruto glanced up to the clock hanging on one of the walls just behind the bar, he squinted his eyes and tried to figure out the angle of the arms and read over the numbers.

It was about time for lunch, close enough for Naruto's standards at least, which was to say there were none when eating Ramen was involved, at least as far as time was concerned. He decided to grab a bite to eat since he was already here anyways.

The boy waited for one of the bar seats to be vacant before stepping in and hopping up to take his place at the Ramen bar. The rest of the patrons were too busy eating their meals and warming up to mind that Naruto was sitting next to them.

Teuchi was happy to see Naruto out and about, and able to enjoy the snow like all the other kids. The ramen chef served up a fresh batch of the noodle soup, giving the boy a generous portion and then resuming his other duties. Naruto set out a few Ryo to pay for the meal, then proceeded to take his chopsticks in hand and enjoy the piping hot noodles.

Unfortunately, the ramen chef was a bit too busy to hold conversation. That, and Teuchi wanted the poor kid to be able to eat in peace. Chatting him up now would only draw unwanted attention to the poor kid.

As the boy sat there and ate, Rai took notice that he picked up something from his "Anger sensing ability", also taking note that he needed to come up with an actual name for it at some point. The bar patrons closest to Naruto were giving off the negative output, but it wasn't necessarily _anger_. He wasn't entirely sure what it was, but he knew it wasn't anger.

Fear; that's what he was sensing. Well, not that he _knew_ for certain, but he had enough evidence to back it up and establish that what he was seeing was most likely fear.

So, he could feel a person's anger and fear, and he could tell within an acceptable margin of accuracy where someone was in relation to the boy based on their negativity. It was… strange, _useful_ , but strange.

What was stranger still, was that he couldn't shake the feeling that his "negativity detector", no, that was a terrible name too… He couldn't shake the feeling that this ability of his was using _himself_ as the frame of reference, and not Naruto, despite the "focal point" very clearly being seen with Naruto as the center.

At first, this confused Rai, until the fox remembered that the old Hokage-fool told the two of them that Rai had inadvertently latched a portion of himself onto Naruto shortly before being sealed away. Having a part of himself connecting the two of them was a reasonable explanation for why his center of reference was focused on the boy's surroundings, but originated from the fox himself.

The kitsune decided that he needed to dedicate time to better understand this ability of his at some point, having been focusing his efforts on Naruto's training up until now. It had practical applications, sure, but Naruto's training held more importance in the overall scheme of things.

Perhaps Konoha's knowledge center would provide insight? The place had already proven its usefulness in previous visits, so it only made sense to give it a try. If he couldn't gain any insight into is ability, then he could always find other useful things to look into.

One such thing being why Naruto had a ninjutsu book that didn't teach him anything to practice ninjutsu with. True, the book had valuable information in it, but learning _how_ to use a tool without having that tool on hand to _use_ or apply what you learned? It simply didn't make any sense to the kitsune.

' _ **Maybe I can take down two birds with one stone…**_ **'** , Rai mused.

 **"Naruto, when you're done here, I think we should take a trip up to the Library."** The boy was naturally hesitant to the idea, and wasn't shy about voicing it.

"What? Why? Don't we already have all the stuff we need?" Rai expected such a response from Naruto, given his well-established aversion to reading.

 **"Hmph, I thought you'd be eager to look for something tangible to practice ninjutsu with."** The kitsune said with a mildly antagonistic undertone. **"Are you telling me you aren't interested in** _ **cool shinobi stuff?"**_ Rai strongly disliked using _stuff_ as a descriptive term, but he elected to make an exception in order to sell the idea to the boy.

The look on Naruto's face as he stood there before the kitsune's gates indicated that he had his suspicions, but that the pitch was working. "…This isn't some trick to get me to go to the library when I wanted to take a break from training… is it?" He asked with a mildly disbelieving expression on his face.

Rai feigned innocence. **"Now why would I do a thing like that? Are you saying you don't trust me?"** The boy shook his hands at the fox in a defensive manner.

"N-no, no, I'm not saying that! I just didn't want to go get _more_ books is all… but if we're really going for cool ninja stuff, I guess I'm OK with that." Naruto finished his statement with a sheepish thumbs-up.

The big fox let out a quiet laugh when Naruto returned to reality. _**'That worked better than expected.'**_ He laid on his forearms and let his tails idly swish behind him, taking a moment to think of other things he could have Naruto look into while at Konoha Library. First and foremost, they needed to find a means for the kid to practice his ninjutsu. Afterward, he would have Naruto search for sensory abilities. After that, well, he'd come up with something by then.

Outside the cage, Naruto wasn't exactly in a rush to be heading back to the library. However, he _did_ like the idea of getting something to practice ninjutsu with, especially with the sour taste of disappointment still fresh in his mind from those dumb books that didn't actually show him any jutsu. His imagination running with the idea of learning his first jutsu helped cement the idea in the boy's head, and a few moments later, Naruto was off to Konoha Library.

* * *

( **Konoha Library** )

Naruto entered, dusting the fresh coating of cold powder off of his coat and not paying any attention to the tracks he was leaving behind on the floor. He took a quick glance around the array of bookshelves and study tables once he'd reached the reception, pausing to pop in on the kitsune's prison to gain some direction.

"Alright, Rai, where should I start looking?" Was the question, which seemed to annoy the big fox more than the boy thought it should have. It was an honest question, right?

Rai's ear twitched in annoyance, though he took a deep breath and exhaled before he formulated his response. **"Kid… use your head. Where do you** _ **think**_ **you should start looking?"** He said in a condescending manner, though he made an effort to keep his annoyance from meddling in this interaction.

After a few moments passed, the big fox gestured with his hand in a fruitless effort to try and get Naruto's thoughts moving at a faster rate. **"Come on, think about it…"** He said in a calmer tone and in a much friendlier manner than what he'd said in his mind.

Finally, Naruto's hand shot up and he declared. "The academy prep… thing! The one that had all the books and scrolls on display, I remember!"

 **"There you go!"** Came the fox's patronizing response.

Back in reality, Naruto strolled over to where he remembered the display being set up previously. It took him a few moments, but he eventually found it again.

The boy eyed the cardboard display, looking it over for any sort of helpful hint as to what books or scrolls he'd need to read to actually learn any ninjutsu.

Finding no such hints, he begrudgingly set out to look through the books and scrolls himself, picking out any that he thought might have to do with ninjutsu and setting them on a table nearby. Unfortunately, given the fact that Naruto wasn't exactly privy to what did and didn't qualify as ninjutsu, the book and scroll count wound up being a fairly excessive amount.

Turning to the table and seeing the tower of scrolls and books that now lay before him, the boy hunched over and let out a heavy sigh. "…Maybe I could just try and wing it when I get to the academy or something…?"

 **"Or… you could try thinking** _ **smarter**_ **and not** _ **harder**_ **, daunting a task as that may be for you."** Came the Kitsune's snark filled remark.

"And _you_ could try being less _vague_ and more _helpful_ , wry-fox!" Naruto shot back in a mimicking manner, earning an amused huff from Rai.

Off to the side, Naruto heard a girls voice speaking in a half indignant, half confused manner. "Are…are you talking to _me_?"

The boy turned to see a pink haired girl, roughly the same age as he was, standing a few feet from the table he'd set all of his books and scrolls on. Not realizing that he'd been speaking with enough volume for others to easily hear, he gave a puzzled look and a "Huh?" in response.

Cocking her head at a slight angle, she reiterated the question in a manner that was less indignant and more curious. "Who were you talking to just now?" She didn't see a radio anywhere on the blonde kid's outfit, and there wasn't anyone else even remotely close enough for him to have been talking to. Maybe he was just crazy?

Naruto's demeanor shifted, and a half-smile formed on his face as he blurted out. "Oh, that; I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to a giant fox in my head!" This, of course, lead to adverse reactions from both the girl, and Rai.

Rai _immediately_ reprimanded Naruto, his voice thick with vitriol. **"Did you** _ **really**_ **just do that? Don't you remember what your Hokage told you?"**

The girl, on the other hand, had a look that expressed concern and a bit of uneasiness in her voice when she next spoke. "A giant fox…in your head…?" The girl instinctively brought a hand up to her chest defensively, being almost convinced on the spot that the blonde she was speaking to was very much crazy.

Scrambling to try and fix the situation, Naruto said the first thing that popped into his mind. "Its… he's my imaginary friend!" He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and continued, "I don't have any real friends… so… I had to make one up." He add a light laugh at the end, despite the singe he felt at the reminder that his only friend was a giant fox in a cage… somewhere.

Hearing the blonde's explanation, the girl quickly lightened her demeanor, though she remained mildly cautious. "Oh, _oh_ , I see…", ' _OK, so he's not…crazy, he's just weird.'_ , she thought to herself.

There was an awkward pause for a few moments, the silence being broken up by the light shuffling of books and quiet whispers from activity elsewhere in the library. Eventually, the girl spoke up whilst eyeing the stacks of books that had been placed onto the table earlier. "…Are you going to read _all_ of these?"

Naruto briefly glanced at his indomitable pile of reading material and shrugged. "I figure _one_ of these dumb books'll teach me a cool jutsu to practice Ninjutsu with." In all honesty, he was _not_ looking forward to having to root through all of these books and scrolls just to find something to practice jutsu with, but what other choice did he have?

The girl lightly furrowed her brow at Naruto's response. "Jutsu? I don't think they'd store jutsu scrolls out _here_. They likely have that locked up in the restricted section, the one for registered Shinobi only."

This had the effect of immediately throwing Naruto off-balance, at least in his head. ' _I can't learn any jutsu until I'm a full-on_ shinobi?!' He mentally screamed. In reality, he let out a rather loud groan as he slumped over ever so slightly, loud enough that he was shushed from a few aisles over.

No way, there was no way he'd be able to wait _that_ long to learn a jutsu. He'd have to find a way into that restricted section somehow! It wasn't like he hadn't gotten into places they didn't want him to be before, but he needed a plan. Rai was good with making plans, right? Right.

"So… if you aren't reading these, is it alright if I take a few?"

Naruto blinked once or twice, his mind not registering the question. "…What?"

The girl hesitated initially, but asked her question again. "The books you took out, if… you're not reading them, do you mind if I take a few? I'm trying to get a head start, with the academy coming up soon and all…" She fidgeted with her fingers as she spoke, keeping her eyes focused mainly on the reading material she needed.

It took several moments for it to click in his mind, but click it did. "Academy? You mean, the _Ninja_ Academy?"

Again, the pink haired girl found herself hesitating with the books mere inches from her grasp. "Well, yeah, I'm already enrolled for my first year." Seeing as she was _still_ not receiving an answer to her previous question, she decided to simply take the reading material she needed from the pile regardless of his response. He wasn't going to be able to read through all of those books at once anyway, so why shouldn't she take some for herself? It was a public library after all.

Naruto paid no mind as the girl took the reading material and sat down to study, he was much more concerned with his newfound objective: Getting into that restricted section!

There was no way in hell he was going to wait around for a whole 'nother year, not for ninjutsu, not _him_.

He popped in on the big fox, strolling up to the giant gates with a determined look on his face. "Wry-fox! I-"

The Kitsune finished for him. **"You're going to break into the restricted section and get a scroll or book that actually teaches you jutsu."** And Rai found himself continuing after the blonde gave him a confused look. **"Did you forget that I can listen in and observe your activities? I overheard you talking about the restricted section while you were** _ **flirting**_ **with the girl."** He added the last part with a mildly antagonistic tone in his voice.

The boy's expression told him that the playful jab had gone right over his head, further proven by his next sentence. "Hey, I don't _know_ when you're listening or not; it's not like I can tell either way."

 **"Fair enough, though you could just assume I'm always listening."**

"The last time I did that, we ended up fighting because you hadn't heard the talk I had with Hokage-jiji, remember?"

Rai stopped briefly, acknowledging that the boy had a valid point. **"…True, in that case, you should double check with me to make sure I'm listening in. Or, I can give you a signal, or,** _ **something**_ **… I don't know, we'll work that out later."**

"Uhh, sure… Right now, we need to come up with a plan to sneak into that restricted section, you gonna help me or not?" The boy replied without wasting a breath.

The big fox idly scratched at its cheek and lazily stated. **"Isn't breaking and entering more** _ **your**_ **area of expertise?"**

Naruto folded his arms and shuffled his feet sheepishly. "Well… yeah, I-I mean, _no!_ I mean… you're a lot better at planning things out than I am, that's all."

Rai offered a chuckle before saying. **"What? You want me to make a plan for you so you can ignore half of it and do things your own way?"**

"Oh come on! Are you _still_ upset over that dumb schedule?" Naruto retorted.

The big fox scoffed. **"My schedule was efficient and productive, and you know it!"** Though he thought to avoid going off on tangent, as the concept of the kid advancing his skillset was infinitely more important than some petty argument about something as inconsequential as a schedule

 **"As far as breaking into the restricted section is concerned… I agree with your decision, we're going to need a usable jutsu for you to train with in Ninjutsu, and acquiring one from the restricted section seems to be the only option available to you at the moment. I suggest you scope out the restricted section ahead of time so we know what we're getting into."** Rai stated with a nod of his head. Technically, that wasn't their _only_ option, but the big fox had no intention of waiting around when they had the opportunity to improve the boy's skills right here and now. Judging by Naruto's intentions, Rai had the feeling that the boy shared his sentiment on the matter, though likely under different context.

Besides, Rai _was_ curious as to what was so special about this "restricted section" of the library. If it contained "jutsus" like the pink haired child claimed, then Naruto could begin ninjutsu training. If not, then it might contain other information that may prove useful, such as insight into his sensory ability. After all, if it were restricted from the general public, it _had_ to have something worthwhile stored within, right?

Naruto exited the prison, finding himself back right where he left off. The blonde's first instinct was to go running off to find this restricted section and scope it out as Rai suggested, but he quickly realized that he didn't have the faintest idea where it was or what it looked like.

Remembering the pink haired girl, he turned to her and attempted to get her attention, though he would come to find that a bit difficult do to her being fully immersed in her studies.

After several failed attempts to get her attention, he bluntly shouted: "Hey, pink-haired girl, do you know where the restricted section is?" This had the effect of drawing the girl's attention away from the book, which he wanted, but it also earned him a look that made him feel very uneasy for reasons he didn't quite comprehend.

She appeared as if she were about to say something in response, but before she could, they both heard the stern voice of the elder librarian. "The _restricted_ section is restricted for a _reason_ , Uzumaki! Children and non-shinobi are _not_ permitted access." As if on cue, right as Naruto was turning to voice his protest, the old man quickly stated, " _No_ exceptions!"

Well, asking the pink-haired girl was out of the question, at least while the old book-keeper was standing there. The old man turned to assist another library goer with their questions, and Naruto used the opportunity to slip away without having to worry about being followed by the librarian.

It looked like he was going to have to do this the hard way, though it was a library, how hard could finding the restricted section be anyway?

As it turned out, finding the restricted section was a bit more challenging that Naruto would have ever guessed, much to Rai's growing frustration. "Where the heck even _is_ the restricted section? We've been at this for over an hour! Where's the sign that says where the section _is_?"

 **"You think they're going to have a big sign pointing to a place that's excluded from the general public?"** Rai commented in a snarky fashion.

"How _else_ are people supposed to find it?" Was Naruto's reply.

In truth, it had only been roughly twenty minutes or so, twenty _aggravating_ minutes, but the details didn't matter much to neither Naruto or Rai.

Naruto finally located the restricted section of the library after a few additional minutes passed. The means with which the boy located it served to annoy the big fox, which Naruto jumped on, naturally. "So, it _does_ have a big sign pointing to where it is. Huh, imagine _that_." He said with a smug look of victory on his face.

The fox gave an agitated huff and responded with, **"Whatever, even a broken clock tells the right time twice a day…"**

"Wait… really? How? I mean, if a clock is broken, then how could it give you the time?" Naruto began to think.

The fox quickly interrupted his thought process in an irritable tone. **"Naruto, focus! You're here to scout out the restricted section!"**

Naruto got himself back on track following the light scolding from Rai. The restricted section didn't look like anything all that special, minus the fact that it had big double doors separating it from the rest of the library…. Double doors that were currently _open_.

For a moment, Naruto considered simply strolling into the restricted section right then and there, but thought twice about that upon seeing a chunin leave through the double doors. Rai didn't have to caution him, he knew that there was the possibility of there being more shinobi in there doing their "ninja research". The last thing he wanted was to relive that day he tried to shoplift a kunai.

' _Wow, even putting_ ninja _in front of research still doesn't make it any less boring sounding…_ ' he mused, losing track of his current objective yet again, which Rai immediately corrected.

 **"Pay attention, boy!"** Came the fox's chastising voice.

"Right!" the blonde responded instinctively, before cautiously moving up to peer inside, past the double doored opening. It seemed more or less like the rest of the library…but with a bigger presence of scrolls. There was also the addition of a locked section further in that was closed off from everything else. ' _A restricted section_ inside _a restricted section? Man, that's so_ cool! _I bet there's some seriously awesome stuff in there.'_ the boy thought to himself, imagining what sorts of epic secrets had to lay within the confines of such a place.

Rai's train of thought went in a more critical direction, and he elected to be vocal about it. **"Well, having a restricted section** _ **within**_ **a restricted section seems rather redundant… but at least it's convenient. Considering the circumstances, I'm willing to bet that the closed-off section there has some particularly useful knowledge stored inside. I recommend we make that a priority."**

"I was just thinking the same thing!" Naruto exclaimed, forgetting once again that people could hear him when he spoke to Rai outside the fox's prison.

"Hey, kid, what do you think you're doing?" Came the voice of a nearby shinobi, as expected, given that Naruto practically broadcast his presence with his exclamation.

The boy played it off and acted innocent as the shinobi approached him, feigning ignorance to the significance of the restricted section of the library. Despite the look of scrutiny he received at his explanation, the ninja shrugged and simply informed Naruto that the area was off-limits to non-shinobi, and shooed him away unceremoniously.

Naruto nodded and went on his way without any fuss, he was only there to scout out the restricted section after all. He accomplished what he'd set out to do, no point in sticking around or getting into arguments with shinobi, right? He headed in the direction of the library entrance and decided to briefly think over the details of his mission in his head.

So, now he knew where this restricted section was, what it looked like on the inside, and that there was a " _restricted_ -restricted" section. The next step was to form a plan with Rai, and after that, come back to the library and sneak in after dark. Simple!

At least, simple as far as breaking into a place that non-shinobi weren't allowed entrance to could be. He'd snuck into the library before, Naruto felt fairly confident that he could do so again. Off he went, ready to leave.

He was halfway out the door when Rai casually commented. **"You know, you never did find out why the ninjutsu books you possess don't contain any ninjutsu**. **"** Naruto halted mid stride, nearly stumbling from the sudden shift in momentum.

With a quick one-eighty turn, Naruto quickly strolled right back to the section he'd last seen the pink haired girl in. She was still there, reading more of the books he'd left out. There were also several other kids in the study section too, also reading from the pile of books. He didn't recognize any of the other kids from anywhere and most of them were older than he was, well, except for one of em that kinda looked like a mini-Shikaku. Other than that, the pink haired girl was the only one he'd seen before.

Naruto walked over to her and gave a gentle poke to her shoulder before asking. "Hey, pink-haired gi-" He was stopped mid-sentence as the girl swatted his hand away with a look on her face that he'd usually get from villagers that didn't want him around, but wouldn't say it to him directly. He instinctively stepped back and gave a soft, "…Sorry…"

"My name is _Sakura_ , not _pink-haired girl_." She said in much less of a rough tone than Naruto had been expecting. Actually, Naruto hadn't expected her to _say_ anything to him at all after he'd been given that look. He especially wasn't expecting for her to have given him her _name_ , nobody _ever_ gave him their name unless they didn't hate him.

Sakura went on and her expression evened out. "You're that kid that all the adults are always complaining about, aren't you? Naruto, right?"

The blonde blinked and tried to compose his thoughts, eventually saying something along the lines of, "yeah that's me." He wasn't sure how to take this, given the mixed signals he was receiving. On the one hand, she gave him her name, and she knew _his_ name, but on the other hand, she was clearly irritated with him being there.

"So, what do you want? I'm kinda in the middle of studying here." Sakura stated bluntly.

"Yeah, we're _all_ kind of studying here. Get lost, Naruto-teme." Came the irritated comment from one of the kids at the other study tables.

Naruto ignored the comment and proceeded to ask Sakura what he'd originally come to the library for in the first place. "Why don't they have any real jutsu to use in the ninjutsu books? How are we supposed to train in Ninjutsu if we don't have anything to train with?"

Sakura thought about that for a good moment or two; truth be told, she didn't quite know the answer to this question and had been curious about that herself.

The kid that looked like a mini-Shikaku spoke up and offered his own explanation, albeit in as few words as possible. "We're kids…so… no ninja-tools, no jutsu?"

Naruto let out inexplicable laughter upon hearing the mini-shikaku's explanation, much to the kid's confusion, and gaining no small amount of angry shushes from other library goers.

The kid muttered something along the lines of "What a pain" before resuming his reading.

Sakura ignored the blonde's laughter and considered the implications of the other kid's over-simplified explanation. It made sense that if they didn't want kids running around with ninja tools, certainly they didn't want kids learning jutsu… _especially_ if any of the stories about what ninjutsu could do were true. Sure, it was annoying that she'd have to wait until she could use jutsu, but she understood why.

Naruto was too busy going over the hilarity he'd found in the mini-shikaku's explanation to have considered much of anything else. The way he'd said it made it sound like a jutsu, and Naruto found that to be _hilarious_. It was a ninja-pun: _No-Ninja-tools no Jutsu!_

Rai, on the other hand, was groaning into his open palm, understanding full well why Naruto was laughing. The horrendously bad pun and the kid finding it funny didn't irritate him as much as Naruto's negligence to the situation and forgetting his objective did.

To be completely fair, the boy _did_ accomplish what he'd intended to do, even if he wasn't being attentive enough to realize it himself… or to really mark it off as complete to begin with. However, Rai hadn't been able to accomplish his own goal of seeking out insight into his sensory ability…but there was time for that later.

Sakura went back to studying, and the rest of the kids either ignored Naruto or occasionally glared at him. Naruto was going to ask his question again, on account of him not paying attention the first time around, but one of the parents of the kids spoke up before he could say anything.

"Get out of here you disruptive little brat! They're _trying_ to study, or are you too stupid to understand that?" Was said with no small amount of malice and punctuated with a shove that sent the boy to the ground.

The impact of the angry parent's statement was mitigated by the immediate shushes they received from the other study tables, and the screech of a chair as someone nearby quickly stood up. The shove was little more than inconvenient. Naruto seemed generally unfazed by the person's actions, based on his expression as he picked himself up off the ground. He'd gone through worse, this was nothing new to him.

Rai could see the arrogant and ignorant fool clear as day, but there was another ping on his ability grid… and it was at the focal point of his ability. He'd seen it before, he knew it had been Naruto giving off the sensations, especially given the situations and context… but he hadn't realized what that specific emotional output was up until now.

In hindsight, it should have been blatantly obvious.

 **"Naruto, maybe it's time we head home, we've got planning to do."** The big fox said in a softer tone than he normally would.

"Yeah… you're right." The blonde said, laughing it off as he turned to leave. His statement left the angry parent, and a few of the kids, rather confused as to who he was talking to... or what he was talking about.

Nearby, Shikaku slowly sat back down in his seat, glaring holes into the back of the asinine parent's head. He wanted so badly to walk over there and chew the guy out for doing that, but he knew that it wouldn't have done any good at this point. The more Shikaku saw the way the villagers treated that poor kid, the more he understood why Naruto so willingly turned to a demon fox for companionship.

However, to an extent, he also understood why the villagers were sometimes so openly hostile to him, given the rumors he'd been briefed on. The villagers either saw him as a stand in for the Kyuubi, or as the Kyuubi itself. It was completely unfair to Naruto, but what could anyone really do about it?

Well, besides what the Hokage, he, and Inoichi were doing… which didn't seem like enough most of the time.

Shikaku found himself wanting to go after Naruto and check up on him, reassure him, _something_ , but he couldn't just leave Shikamaru here on his own. He sighed and shrugged his shoulders, resigning to the fact that there wasn't anything he could do. Shikaku took solace in the knowledge that Naruto was tough for a kid, that it'd take more than a petty shove and mean words to do any real damage.

Any damage compared to what the village had already done.

' _Don't do that, it's not helping._ ' He mentally scolded himself over that train of thought, glancing over to his son and leaning to get a better look at what he was doing.

 _'Maybe I could introduce Shikamaru to Naruto sometime? Would be good to have a kid his age to talk to…'_ Shikaku mused as he went over to make sure Shikamaru was actually studying, and not just _pretending_ to study. ' _Well, good for the both of them really, even if Shikamaru would probably complain about the inconvenience. I'll run it by Inoichi first, see what he thinks._ '

* * *

( **Naruto's Apartment: later that night** )

Naruto managed to draw up a basic sketch of the Library with Rai's help and had come up with an adequate plan with which to carry out his "borrowing mission". He referred to it as a "borrowing mission", because he fully intended to return what he took.

"Alright, so I take the back routes to avoid people seeing me approach the library. From there, I go through the back entrance to the library, and then find my way to the restricted section! Once we're in, I look for books and scrolls with jutsu in them, and try to get into the restricted-restricted section." Naruto said, rolling up the map and stuffing it into his tool pouch. He checked and made sure he had spare lock-picks in his tool pouch, and a flashlight, _especially_ the flashlight.

Naruto could improvise if he didn't have lock-picks, but there was no way he'd be able to improvise for seeing in the dark. He tried that once before, and he was _not_ going to do _that_ again.

 **"You know, I still find it amusing that someone who so adamantly detests theft has skills in lock-picking."** Rai commented.

Naruto quickly retorted with a neutral. "Just because I can get in places they don't want me to be doesn't mean I steal things."

 **"Fair enough."**

Naruto went over his mental checklist one more time before throwing on his winter clothes and stepping out into the cold, moonlit night.

It was a stroke of luck that the moon was half-full tonight, providing the boy with just enough light to navigate the streets of Konoha without having to resort to using his flashlight. He wouldn't have to waste precious battery power, and he wouldn't draw attention to himself.

Cat swore silently under her breath, having to leave her sleeping comrade and chase after the demon kid. _'Why the hell can't he be like normal kids and go to bed at a reasonable hour?'_ She thought, casting a glance back at Fox's position just as it was lost behind the rooftops. _'Where the hell is the brat_ going _at this time of night anyway?'_

She cursed her luck that it was the _one night_ she managed to convince Fox to take a break and rest; go figure that it would be the night that this demon brat decides to break from routine and run off adventuring into the dark. _'Stupid kid.'_

Cat pushed her frustration into the back of her mind and focused on keeping her eyes on the kid, and following him even as he ducked into the backstreets and took detours. It was suspicious, but then again, _everything_ the brat did was suspicious… so this was technically normal for him.

Rai felt a presence behind Naruto, up in the rooftops; mild anger, mild fear. The individual was following them, that much was made obvious almost immediately by how they changed position relative to Naruto's. The Kitsune decided not to say anything yet, given that he wasn't ready to let Naruto know about his ability, but he would keep an eye on their observer nonetheless.

* * *

( **Konoha Library: Nearing midnight** )

Several minutes later, Naruto successfully arrived at the Library. A quick glance around and the boy moved to locate the back entrance. It was easily found on account of the fact that Naruto had used it before, several times in fact. Also, because the door was pretty obvious and easy to find, even in the dark.

Unbeknownst to Naruto, it wasn't so much a "back entrance" as much as it was simply an _alternate_ entrance, but that was just arguing semantics.

Naruto quietly whipped out his lock-pick set and deftly set about unlocking the door. He relied on muscle memory, closing his eyes in focus, feeling for the tumblers and locking them in place quickly and quietly.

It didn't take much time at all before the blonde succeeded and slowly opened the previously locked doors.

Cat sighed and activated her Byakugan as the brat closed the door behind him, electing to remain outside so as to not have to risk being spotted by the demon kid in the confined space.

Rai noted that the observer stayed outside the building, curious as to why they'd been following Naruto in the first place. He had a few ideas in his mind, but now wasn't the time for contemplation.

Naruto waited until he was a few steps away from the entrance before pulling out and turning on his flashlight. He unraveled the map he made and shined the light over it, and then peering around to see if he could identify where he was relative to the map.

 **"You came in through the back, try turning the map."** The kitsune offered. Naruto turned the map and made a sound in affirmation.

"Huh, that's much better. Thanks Rai!" He said, getting his bearings and then marching off to find the restricted section.

Finding the restricted section turned out to be far easier in the dark than it was during the day. Maybe it had something to do with the map, maybe was because Naruto had been following a specific path and wasn't aimlessly wandering and searching through similar looking book shelves.

"Found it!" Naruto exclaimed. He held the flashlight in his mouth to free up his hands and swiftly got to work with his lock-picks again. This lock was a bit tougher than the locks he had experience in getting through, but that didn't faze him one bit.

After a minute of struggling with the lock, Naruto heard the fox comment. **"You want me to take a crack at it?"**

"Neh, I Goh dhish. Beshidsh, you unno how a roch-hick." Was the boy's attempt at a response, missing the sarcasm completely.

Eventually, Naruto managed to get the last few tumblers aligned and the door unlocked. " _Yatta_ , Nailed it!" he exclaimed, or at least he _would_ have, had his mouth not been preoccupied with holding the flashlight at the time.

He didn't hesitate in pushing the doors open and taking the flashlight back into his hand. Naruto could barely restrain himself from just running in and grabbing the first scroll he could find. This was the restricted section, where they held all the cool jutsu stuff, how could he _not_ be excited?

 **"Good work, but we-"** Rai stopped mid sentence, feeling a very faint presence in the room with them. He'd had his ability active ever since they entered the library, but he didn't take into account of the fact that if the individual wasn't feeling any negative emotion, he wouldn't necessarily be able to see them in his ability sense. The thought hadn't so much as crossed his mind, and now he felt like a fool.

Naruto had forgone restraint and had gone straight to searching through the first section of scrolls and books he came to, shining his light over the covers to try and make out the titles. Luckily, the individual was on the other side of the restricted section and seemed to be preoccupied with reading material of their own.

 **"Naruto, we aren't alone in here…be careful, and quiet!"** The fox quickly stated, right as Naruto was going to pull a scroll off of its shelf.

The kid instinctively looked around, unsure of whether Rai was telling the truth or not. It wasn't that he didn't believe the big fox, but he didn't see anyone coming in here, and there wasn't any other light sources or anything either! How could someone else be in here?

"Wry-fox, I'm not afraid of the dark and I don't believe in monsters… don't try to scare me like that!" He stated as he stood before the Fox's imprisoning gates.

The big fox glared at the blonde and quickly reiterated. **"This isn't the time for games, boy, this is serious! We cannot afford to be caught, be quiet and be quick about this!"**

Rai didn't need to explain to Naruto why it was important that he didn't get caught in the restricted section, especially after dark. The blonde quickly skimmed through the scrolls, searching for any titles that stuck out.

On a side note, Rai found it somewhat amusing to note that, despite Naruto's defiant attitude, he could sense a modicum of fear radiating from the boy when he talked about not being afraid.

What _didn't_ amuse the fox, however, was seeing the boy continue to look through the titles of the scrolls and books in what was obviously the wrong genre section.

 **"Perhaps you should stop checking the titles on the reading material, and instead search for specific genres? I doubt we're going to find any jutsu in the** _ **historical documents**_ **, section…"** The big fox stated with more than a hint of snide.

Naruto blinked once or twice, before muttering "I knew that" and sheepishly moving on to the next aisle.

After wandering for a bit, and narrowly missing being spotted by the individual currently in the restricted section with them, Naruto came to the area of the restricted section that actually had jutsu in it. Well, at least, that's what he assumed to be the case, due to the Genre label atop the shelving unit bore the title " _Shinobi literature_ ".

Rai was thankful to see that the person nearby was heavily involved in whatever it is they were reading. They never once looked up from whatever it was they held against the soft glow of the reading lamp. The only indication that they were actually a person and not a statue was the occasional page turning. The kitsune was also thankful that Naruto had _finally_ noticed the individual himself, and made an effort to steer clear of them.

Naruto was disappointed at first, after the several minutes of scouring through the shelves produced not even a single book or scroll that looked like it contained jutsu. However, he kept at it, determined to find at least one scroll with jutsu in it, it could be any jutsu really. Eventually that determination paid off, and his effort was rewarded with a promising looking scroll with a fancier containing case than the others.

With trembling hands, he carefully unwound the paper roll's case and snuck around the corner before looking over the scroll with his flashlight.

"I… can't read this. Rai, can you read this?" The boy whispered after a few seconds of struggling to make out what the symbols were that he found written on the inside of the scroll.

Rai immediately shushed him, hoping that the one nearby didn't hear. **"Yes, I can read it. Just, be quiet boy! Have you forgotten that we aren't alone?"**

Naruto had a self-conscious look about him as he responded with: "Oh, right, sorry!"

"Hello? Is someone there?" Was heard, announcing that the individual must have heard him that time. Either that, or he'd heard both times and had only chosen now to respond to it.

Rai didn't need to tell Naruto to hide, he did so as if on instinct, shutting off the light and hiding the scroll in his belt pouch. The boy slid around the corner of a bookshelf and peeked round, watching as the individual cautiously strolled over to investigate the noise.

 **"That was too close… I** _ **told**_ **you to be quiet! I warned you that there was someone else here with us!"** The big fox was a bit more critical than he'd intended, but the boy nearly ruined this whole thing with his forgetfulness! If they were caught now, there was no telling what would happen, not to mention the obvious fact that they wouldn't be able to venture into the locked off portion of this restricted section.

Naruto silently moved away from the individual, who turned out to be a shinobi, judging by the headband glimmering with the lamp's reflection. _'Why is he so silent?'_ He thought to himself, wondering whether the shinobi was actually looking for him or not. Naruto figured that the person would say something, maybe call out to him, _something_. That's what people did when they were searching, right?

Nothing, the shinobi said nothing as they silently scoured the surrounding area with their lantern.

Outside the library, Cat cast a glance over the shinobi with her Byakugan. ' _A Genin? Go figure. Poor bastard must be running the D-rank for library guard duty. I remember that one; never again. Explains why he completely missed the demon brat...'_

It amused the kitsune that this shinobi seemed to be easier to see in his sensing ability, due in large part to the influx of fear he was now emitting. Rai guessed that, despite this, the shinobi was still competent enough that they would likely be more on guard now. Even if they stopped actively looking, Naruto would still have to be careful. **"Naruto, I don't think he's going to stop searching for you… remain silent, we can still do this, but you need to be quick. You won't be able to keep searching through that section, however, you might be able to slip into the locked down section. I'll be your eyes in the dark, follow my lead."**

Naruto was understandably confused by this, but he was mindful enough to not question it out loud. Given that he could hear the light footsteps of the shinobi nearby, still searching for any sign of him, he kept himself as silent as could be.

He listened as the big fox steered him in the darkness, feeling around with his hands outstretched so as to not bump into the bookshelves. With the fox's help, he found the secure room of the restricted section. At least, that's what Naruto hoped it was.

Feeling around for the main lock, he grabbed hold of the door's handle and fiddled around with his lock-pick set. Rai kept his senses attuned and mindful of where the shinobi was, they were far enough that Naruto had some time to try to pick the lock, but he couldn't use his flashlight to do so. Luckily, Naruto didn't need a flashlight to pick a lock.

It was… difficult. Several times, Naruto had to abandon his attempt and hide as the shinobi passed by. This made the task all the more challenging, since Naruto couldn't simply leave his lock-pick in the lock when he hid, as Rai was quick to remind him after the first time and he'd nearly gotten caught.

The blonde got quicker with the lock as he fiddled with it, getting further along with the subsequent attempts. Nearing the fifth try, Naruto heard the shinobi quietly swearing, and Rai felt a ping of definitive fear and something else…panic perhaps?

It seemed, judging by where the ninja was, he'd finally checked out the entrance to the restricted section and found the door unlocked. Naruto's heart threatened to jump out of his chest, hearing the footsteps of the ninja coming closer and closer.

Despite his hands trembling profusely, he managed to get through the lock and quickly swung the door open, slipping inside and quietly shutting the door just as the shinobi rounded the corner with his lantern.

Naruto reached and swiftly re-locked the door from the inside. Right in time, as not a moment later, he heard the shinobi trying the door, making sure it was locked still. Satisfied, the ninja turned and hurriedly walked off, continuing his search for any sign that someone was there.

He and Rai both let out a sigh of relief, the boy slumping down against the doorframe.

Outside the library, Cat was thoroughly swearing at her luck, emerging from her hiding place in the trees and moving up to begrudgingly step in and intervene. As much as she didn't like the brat, she couldn't let him come across _that_ scroll. She was sure Hiruzen-sama would pull strings to protect him, but it'd look a lot better on her record if she kept it from happening.

On the bright side, she'd only have to explain the situation to a Genin. Technically that was a good and bad thing.

Back in the library, Naruto had slowly rose back to his feet.

 **"Excellent work, Naruto; we're in!"** Rai said with a relieved tone and a smile. Despite nearly botching this endeavor, the boy pulled through. He actually managed to gain access to this locked section, even with that bothersome shinobi prowling around.

Naruto's face was beaming, and he rubbed the back of his neck with a bit of bashfulness; it wasn't often that the big fox praised him. He fished around for his flashlight after stashing away his lock-picks, checking to make sure he still had the scroll from earlier.

 **"Alright… I'll let you know when it's safe to use your flashlight. If I tell you to, shut it off and don't hesitate, got it?"** Naruto nodded in affirmation to the kitsune's instructions, still remaining silent despite how furiously his heart had been racing through all this.

 **"...Ok, go."**

Naruto flicked on the flashlight and shone it forward into the room. The walls were lined with cubbies and wooden scroll holders, several desks for personal studying… but none of that was even remotely important to him compared to the giant scroll sitting behind a locked case at the end of the room.

 **"Well now, what have we here? This one certainly looks important."** Rai mused aloud. No doubt, judging by the ornate design and size of the scroll, accompanied by its additional security even in this locked room within a locked room… this scroll _had_ to be important.

Naruto wordlessly walked forward, his free hand slowly outstretched toward the massive scroll's case. This one _had_ to have jutsu in it, it just _had_ to.

( **To be continued...** )

* * *

 ** _Author's Notes_**

First and foremost, I really am sorry this took so long to write up. I've been going through a lot of life decisions over the past couple of months, soul searching and the like.

I've also been working and stuff, like, a job.

ANywho, next chapter shouldn't take nearly as long to come out.

why did this chapter take so long? aside from the reasons listed above? Simple, well, not simple, but I "forgot the reason I started this story". Somewhere along the lines I got so concerned with trying to make the story "good" that I completely missed the point of writing it in the first place. This was supposed to be fun, and my incessant worrying about whether it was any good, or if people would like it, I... well, lets be honest at this point. It wasn't a few ignoramuses leaving mean comments that almost killed this story, I was the one holding the kunai to it's throat here. DIdn't even realize it at the time. I did that, my paranoia and stupidity did that. I needed to focus less on appeasing people and just focus on writing a fun story that I could enjoy.

So, that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna keep writing a story that's fun to write. The polishing and fine tuning can come _after_ the chapter is written.

Also, another reason I stopped writing was because I was trying to watch through more of shippuden for inspiration. It failed utterly.

I have, very _mixed_ feelings about shippuden.

Anywho, having that out of the way...

lets see.

We have Hiruzen not putting up with anti-naruto villager bullshit.

Naruto continuing his pre-academy studies

Rai exploring his sensor ability and learning a wee bit more about it, and struggling to come up with a name for it.

Cat and Fox doing what they do best, being side characters!

The useless one making an appearance! (Sorry, had to make that joke)

Naruto planning a heist!

And much much more!

I wanted to give a continuation of sorts to the previous sequence from last chapter, that's not the last we've seen of "bloody nose", he'll be back, with clogged vengeance.

a big part of the problem with the development of this chapter was me trying to go into depth with the ninja academy stuff, like, coming up with ninjutsu stuff that...really isn't explained all too well in the naruto-verse, and I'm caught in a nasty "rock and hard place" of not wanting to diverge from fan interpretations of the stuff not-explained in naruto-verse, and wanting to go off and do my own thing with it. I really like how a lot of fanfics try to explain the stuff that the series leaves vague, or just glosses over. I didn't feel comfortable deciding between piggybacking off other ideas, or coming up with my own way of explaining it, so I'm gonna leave it vague myself, or...well, if you folks want to insert your own interpretation of lore regarding Ninjutsu and other such stuff, I'd be happy to hear your suggestions. I already have some useful suggestions I plan to implement once Naruto hits the academy, thanks to a helpful brainstorming session I had with a reader a few months back.

Rai's sensory ability is one such problem, its never really explained or given much context. All I could find was references to it and vague explanations about the fact that he _had_ it, and that's about it. I hate working with this vagueness, I really do.

Sakura makes an appearance! And again, we come across one of the main problems I've been having to work through in this story, and why I decided "F**K it, lets go all the way and make it an AU". 80% of this story has been me scraping the barrel for any and all tangible references to these character's pre-academy to try and get an idea of who they'd be like at this age. Sakura was a very difficult character to write, because I couldn't find a consistent picture of what character type she was, what her personality was like prior to the academy (where she goes through the shift into becoming the character we know from the show). I decided to do my own thing for now, explain why she was so good with her academics, she's a bit of a bookworm, though she's also got a little bit of her anime self thrown into the mix (not putting up with Naruto's Sh**) I just...I'm really unsure of her pre-academy characterization, even writing this author's note.

I took the opportunity to remind you that the village hates Naruto, because its an obligation! Oh, I guess also to show that Shikaku is getting to be sympathetic, and to give hints at deeper relationship development between the big fox and Naruto.

Naruto may not be a thief, but he's amazing at getting into places he shouldn't be. And he's very sneaky when he wants to be. Fun fact: I originally had that break-in sequence involve a chunin, a specific chunin, but one of my beta reader's suggested that I have it be a regular genin, as a chunin would have easily spotted Naruto and wouldn't have derped about after hearing him. Especially the specific Chunin I was going to put in there.

...man, I really suck at these author's notes...

I think I put enough hints in here that you folks can piece together what's gonna happen next. Sorry for the cliffhanger.

Man, I'm tired...

thanks for reading, I'll see all you wonderful people next chapter!


	12. Chapter 12: A Minor Detour

_**Pre-Story Notes**_

SO I've been having to deal with a failing keyboard and extra work days eating into my available time. Terribly sorry for that, but not a lot I can do.

A co-worker recently left and we've been shorthanded. Can't do anything about that, but I'm doing my best to keep up with my writing regardless of the much less time to do so.

I've had this laptop for about two years now, I'm a pretty avid gamer. As such, the 'w' key is getting to be worn out, and now the 'e' key is failing too. I was able to work around W, but not E. Luckily, I still have a warranty for this PC and I'm having a replacement keyboard brought out and installed for me.

I intended for this chapter to be out a week and a half ago, but work and my general paranoia regarding whether or not my readers will enjoy the content ended up delaying me.

I won't take up any more of your time with my IRL problems.

Here's some general questions:

 _UndyingRevenge:_ _will we get to see rai experiment with giving naruto energy?_

Yes, that's definitely something that's going to come up in the near future.

 _Bmidd111:_ _Is the Kyuubi going to eventually remember his real name?_

Oh absolutely! Rai originally started as just a placeholder name so the kyuubi could have a name to associate with it. It eventually stuck, and I was pleasantly surprised with its deeper meaning. The kyuubi _will_ remember his real name at some point in the future, that's for certain. I'm undecided if Naruto will continue calling him Rai or start using his real name, most likely going with the latter.

 **IN other news,** I'm going to be taking a biref break at some point to revise the earlier chapters and change their formatting to better reflect these more current chapters. I'm also going to add a little bit to them to merit the changes, nothing big, but a little something extra for my readers. Also, I'm going to be gutting the glorified word vomit that is my author's notes and making them less...word vomity? I'll keep the gneral ideas, but have them be less...you get the idea. Less blabbering, more story.

Be sure to review and PM me with any questions or suggestions. I rely on reader input to gauge how I'm doing with the story, so don't leave me in the dark!

Also, quick note, the fanfictionNet document editor is at it's usual antics again and changing words on me...so...that's nice.

* * *

 _Naruto flicked on the flashlight and shone it forward into the room. The walls were lined with cubbies and wooden scroll holders, several desks for personal studying… but none of that was even remotely important to him compared to the giant scroll sitting behind a locked case at the end of the room._

 _ **"Well now, what have we here? This one certainly looks important."** Rai mused aloud. No doubt, judging by the ornate design and size of the scroll, accompanied by its additional security even in this locked room within a locked room… this scroll had to be important._

 _Naruto wordlessly walked forward, his free hand slowly outstretched toward the massive scroll's case. This one had to have jutsu in it, it just had to._

Naruto gingerly placed his hands upon the locked case that held the oversized and ornate looking scroll within it. He thought about it for a moment. Did he really want to take this scroll? Well, obviously, he did, but that wasn't the important question.

 _Could_ he take this scroll? That was a better question, and one that he was smart enough to know the answer to. He could easily manage to slip out of here with a few jutsu scrolls like the one he nabbed earlier, but this? There was no way he was walking out of this library with that thing slung over his shoulders. Heck, it was almost bigger than he was!

Still, finding out what was contained within was too great an opportunity to pass up. Sure, he couldn't just walk out of here with the thing, but he didn't have to leave the library to get a peek inside the scroll, now, did he?

Rai didn't have to explain that to him, though, he did, anyway, even as Naruto was getting his lockpicks in hand again to start working on opening that fortified display case.

It took some doing, but Naruto managed to get the lock open. Curiously enough, this lock wasn't nearly as complicated to crack as the previous locks. Maybe it was because this was a display case and not a door, or, maybe it had something to do with the fact that it was in a locked room within a locked room?

Naruto couldn't help but to chuckle outloud at that thought; it really was funny that they'd do that.

He shook his head and refocused on the gigantic scroll that he now had access to. The boy carefully reached into the case and grabbed hold of it, trying to hoist it out of the case.

He strained and tugged, but the scroll didn't budge on account of the fact that, despite being made out of paper, it was actually pretty heavy.

' _What gives? How the heck is a giant paper roll this heavy? Stupid, oversized, fat, dumb scroll!'_ He said in his head and grabbing hold of the bindings wrapped around it to make another attempt at hoisting it from its display case.

Naruto shut off his flashlight and set it down on the desk nearby, then came back to use both hands in his attempt to lift the scroll. This time, he managed to get it off the base of the display, but wasn't able to fully lift it enough to remove it.

 **"Stop trying to lift it from the center, use leverage to your advantage. Grab one end of it and drag it out."** Rai offered as a suggestion, and for once, Naruto followed the suggestion without adding his own two cents to it.

Taking hold of one end, he lifted and pulled, managing to get the scroll free of the case. Though , he took a wrong step and wound up falling back from the weight.

His heart sunk as he fell, fearing that this would _definitely_ alert the ninja outside the room that he was in here. In yet another stroke of luck for the night, Naruto's fall was at least partially muffled by a stack of papers and scrolls that had been laying off to the side of the display case. He'd fallen at just the right angle that his right side caught the stack and mitigated the impact when he hit the floor.

The scroll, however, fell atop of Naruto. The giant paper roll knocking the wind out of him and causing him to let out a pained grunt. He just barely managed to get his arms around the scroll and prevent it from falling the rest of the way and causing whatever noise it might have upon hitting the floor. Naruto would have breathed a sigh of relief, but truth be told, the scroll was making breathing a little difficult to do.

Rai let out a hefty exhale, having held his breath from the sudden threat of Naruto _once again,_ nearly blowing everything up. He made an effort to keep himself from getting angry over it as it wasn't necessarily the kid's fault.

 _This_ _time._

 **"You alright, Naruto?"** He asked after a few moments of the boy not moving from his current position.

The blonde slowly raised a hand and gave a halfhearted thumbs up. ' _Yeah, I'm fine, I just have this giant scroll crushing me… no big deal._ ' He said sarcastically in his head.

 **"I'll take that as a yes. Alright, now** _ **carefully**_ **slide the scroll off and onto the floor next to you and** _ **don't**_ **let it fall."**

Quietly grunting, Naruto struggled to lift the heavy scroll enough to slide it to his left. He positioned his foot to guide the scroll's other end to the floor, and to tell where the floor was in the dark.

With some solid effort, he managed to get the one end onto the floor, and then slowly slid the rest of the scroll off of himself. He took a moment to breathe and get himself up from the stack of scrolls and papers before addressing the big scroll any further, tenderly pressing a hand to his ribs.

Rai hesitated at first, but asked nevertheless. **"Are you sure you're alright?"**

Naruto forced a grin and responded in a whisper. "So long as that scroll has jutsu in it, I'm fine as can be!"

 **"Good, good. Now, I don't think you can take this scroll with you. Let's just open it u-"** The kitsune stopped mid-sentence, feeling the meddlesome observer from earlier having finally entered the library, and was rapidly approaching Naruto's current location. The kitsune started to feel himself grow angry at the thought of having all of this being a wasted endeavor.

However, he also found himself worrying at the thought of what might happen if Naruto was caught with this scroll. He didn't want for this to have been for naught, but he also had no desire for consequences levied against the boy that might hamper their plans. In his moment of indecision, he opted for simply stating. **"Someone's coming, we're out of time!"**

Naruto was already kneeling and unwinding the binds holding the scroll together, far too focused on the potential for what the scroll held within to hear the kitsune's warning. He grasped the fold of the scroll and pulled it open, shining his light upon the unfurled document. Naruto looked over the open scroll, and his heart sank down to his feet and all the wind fell out of his sails in one swift motion.

Within the scroll… was more of the symbols that he couldn't read.

Just as the boy was about to voice his immeasurable disappointment and outrage at this tremendous letdown, he heard the door behind him unlock. He didn't have the time to turn his head in shock, before feeling his body being grabbed and thrown to the ground. The twisting of his arm caused him to instinctively yelp, though that wound up being stifled by the knee that found itself dug into his back.

Cat had her knee pressed into Naruto, holding him in an armlock against the floor. She wasn't necessarily trying to hurt the kid, but she was also a bit irked that he'd went straight for _that_ scroll and had gotten ahold of it before she could stop him. She'd have been considerably more irked with him, had it not been that she knew Naruto had no idea what that scroll actually was.

"So… does this mean I failed the mission? Do I still get paid?" Was the meekly voiced question from the Genin standing in the doorway.

Cat slowly turned her head and shot a glare from behind her mask at the teenage shinobi. "What do _you_ think?"

* * *

 **(Hokage's office—Morning)**

Hiruzen was staring at Naruto with one of the most serious expressions he'd ever been able to muster towards the boy. He didn't take his eyes off of him for so much as a second, and Naruto's eyes never left the floor. The boy clearly knew he was in deep trouble, though Hiruzen guessed that he had no idea of the magnitude of the situation, or the real reason why the situation was so serious in the first place.

The two of them had been like this for a good thirty minutes now. Cat stood next to Hiruzen a few steps to the side, and Fox stood next to Naruto in a similar fashion. On Hiruzen's desk sat the Scroll of Seals that Naruto had unwittingly gotten ahold of the previous night, re-bound and wrapped with additional binds. Next to the giant scroll sat Naruto's pouches, with all of their contents turned out upon the desk and organized neatly in a row.

After a few more agonizing minutes of staring, the Sandaime pulled his pipe from his desk and began the process of lighting a fresh batch of tobacco, still keeping his eyes locked on the boy. Once the pipe was lit, he casually took a smoke from it. At this time, Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but Hiruzen quickly raised his hand and shushed the boy before he had the chance to say anything.

The Hokage took a deep breath and carefully considered what he would say, what he _should_ say. He slowly brought his hand to rest upon the Forbidden Scroll and found himself very grateful that it was Cat that had caught the boy with it in his possession and not some other shinobi, or worse.

"Naruto Uzumaki…" He finally started, causing Naruto to sit upright and at attention. "Do you know what this is?" The old man proceeded to ask, lightly patting his hand upon the giant scroll's surface in a manner of punctuation.

Naruto slowly shook his head, then softly spoke. "I don't… I thought it had a jutsu in it."

Hiruzen hummed in acknowledgement, then said. "This, is the Scroll of Seals; commonly referred to as _the_ _forbidden scroll_."

The boy gulped, shifting uneasily in his seat. In the brief pause that followed, the Sandaime took a light puff from his pipe.

For Naruto, under any other circumstances, the thought of how awesome that scroll had to be for it to be named _the forbidden scroll_ would have been at the forefront of his mind. Under the current circumstances, well, he _was_ still thinking about how awesome that scroll had to be, but he was also preoccupied by the possible extent to how angry the Hokage probably was with him.

Within the confines of the kitsune's prison, Rai was grumbling all manner of obscenities as he had been for the past hour. Most of which were aimed exclusively at the "Meddlesome Cat masked woman", and "That bothersome shinobi brat". He also had a slew of choice words reserved for that old fool too! And whatever idiot that decided to restrict access to jutsu! And… well, if the kitsune was being honest, Naruto was really the only individual in this tiresome village that he _wasn't_ presently angry with.

He had no reason to be angry with Naruto anyway, at least, concerning the failure of this restricted section endeavor. The boy had performed adequately enough, and it wasn't _his_ fault that he'd been caught. Naruto had been _this close_ to succeeding… It was that cat masked woman that had followed them, _she_ ruined everything!

The fox closed his eyes and huffed angrily at the conclusion of his thoughts. **"Stupid, meddlesome shinobi…"**

Back in the Hokage's office, Hiruzen was struggling to find the right words to express his concern over this incident. He was more fearful for the boy's safety than he was angry over what Naruto had done, truth be told. Given the fact that Naruto couldn't read Kanji, there wasn't the threat of the boy learning something from the scroll that would have been dangerous to himself or anyone around him.

No, Hiruzen was more fearful over what would have happened had Naruto tried to leave that room with the scroll in hand… how the envoy of shinobi tasked with automatically responding to, and handling, such an event would have reacted to the Kyuubi's container trying to make off with the scroll of seals.

Needless to say, it would _not_ have ended well...

The old man sighed, raising his free hand and lightly rubbing between his eyebrows before continuing. "What exactly were you thinking, breaking into the secluded portion of the library's restricted section? Let alone breaking into the restricted section in the first place?" He set both hands upon the scroll, as if punctuating his next point. "And why you deemed it necessary to try and take _this_ , of all things you could have taken?"

"I wasn't going to steal _anything_! All I wanted was to try and get a scroll that had jutsu I could learn, _-ttebayo._ " Naruto adamantly protested. "I was gonna return whatever I got from the shelves, honest!"

"And the scroll of seals?"

Naruto looked down and kicked his feet in exasperation, "I didn't know what it was when I tried to take it…"

Hiruzen had half a mind to believe him; Naruto rarely ever took things that didn't belong to him… junk and refuse being the obvious exception. He drew another smoke from his pipe, then began contemplating where to go from here. The old man mulled over the facts, lightly tapping a finger against his desk as he thought.

Naruto hadn't technically _stolen_ anything. Sure, he had every intention of walking out of that library with this jutsu scroll of agility, but it was a public library. The boy had several articles of reading material at his apartment already. True, he broke into the library; something he'd done previously on several occasions. That wasn't such a big deal in the grand scheme of things: after all, people could still visit Konoha library after dark, if they had proper permission; though Naruto certainly didn't.

The boy had intended to take a jutsu scroll, a scroll of acrobatic and agility techniques; nothing serious in context, but still something he wasn't allowed to have. There was the possibility that he would have taken other jutsu scrolls, but he didn't. It appeared that he may have intended to take the scroll of seals. _That_ was deeply troubling; and it dwarfed any other offense the boy committed.

Hiruzen believed Naruto's claim of not knowing what the oversized scroll was, but that didn't change the fact that the boy clearly knew he was someplace he shouldn't have been, and that didn't exactly help mitigate the seriousness of this.

There was a thought that flashed into his mind, and it made him extremely uneasy. Thinking it over and contemplating the deeper implications made the sensation worse. While it was true that _Naruto_ couldn't read Kanji, the same couldn't be said about his _friend_. "Naruto… did Rai tell you to take scrolls from the restricted section?" The Sandaime asked cautiously.

"Huh? No, it was all my idea… why?" Naruto replied, with a tone of voice indicating he was still mindful of how much trouble he might be in for the library stunt. The boy was unaware of any deeper implications this situation held.

Hiruzen felt the tension ebb, at least somewhat, with that thought partially addressed. Still, he reiterated the question. "Did Rai _ask_ you to do any of this?"

Naruto shifted in his seat and answered in the same tone as before. "No."

The Sandaime persisted, "You're absolutely sure?"

 **"Nice to see that the old fool still doesn't trust me."** Rai idly commented with no small amount of sarcasm.

"Well… Rai suggested going to the library to see if we could find out why the ninjutsu books didn't have any jutsu in 'em… But _I_ was the one that wanted to sneak into the restricted section." Naruto nervously admitted, still completely oblivious to the deeper implications at stake.

The Sandaime's nerves calmed considerably after hearing that, though he still didn't like any of this. _'If the Kyuubi had any inclination of what sorts of secrets the scroll held, he'd have made that a priority. Come to think of it, given the Kyuubi's amnesia, when would the Kyuubi have learned of the scroll's existence in the first place without Naruto knowing about it too?'_ Hiruzen rationalized in his mind.

The demon fox supposedly had little, if anything, to do with Naruto's decision to sneak into the restricted section. Even if the Kyuubi _did_ at one point know about the scroll, it was ultimately made redundant due to the simple fact of him having amnesia. Hiruzen reminded himself that this Kyuubi, Rai, was not necessarily the beast from the one that the village faced years ago.

Well, not _literally_ , but that was beside the point. Naturally, he didn't approve of the thing going off and discovering secrets like what was hidden within the forbidden scroll, but he had to admit that he may have been overreacting about this. The Kyuubi hadn't sought out the scroll, _Naruto_ did, and he did so unknowingly.

Back to the matter at hand, Hiruzen would need to take precautions in order to prevent the possibility of Naruto obtaining the Scroll of Seals again. He didn't need Shukaku's intellect to know that the simplest solution was likely the easiest.

Once he was done here with the boy, he would instruct Fox and Cat to immediately intervene if Naruto attempted to enter the secluded room of the restricted section. A simple and effective solution, and it would be far easier than trying to relocate the scroll or applying additional security to it.

 _'Actually, it might be best if I have additional security applied to it, just to be safe. As unprecedented as it is to have someone actually try and steal the scroll of seals; if a bored seven-year-old was able to sneak in and obtain it… well, that speaks for itself.'_

Hiruzen kept in mind that, if it came down to it, he _could_ always relocate the scroll and have it hidden within his own estate. _'_ ' _I'll reserve that for plan C…'_

Naruto's voice interrupted the Sandaime's train of thought. "So… uh… how much trouble am I in?"

The question was innocent enough, but the situation was far from simple. "It's difficult to say..." Hiruzen stated in a neutral tone, pausing to clear his throat before continuing. "This is a very serious matter, Naruto-kun… you're very lucky that there wasn't a more experienced shinobi guarding the restricted section. You are _even more_ lucky that you were caught before you left the secluded room with that scroll."

 **"I don't see what the big deal is; all that glorified scratch paper had in it was useless jutsu that had more potential to hurt its user than do anything else."** Was Rai's commentary, reflecting on what little of the so-called _forbidden scroll_ he was able to read in the time Naruto had to examine it.

Hiruzen continued. "As it stands, I'm confiscating your tool pouch and all its contents, and you're hereby banned from the Library until further notice."

Naruto had a look of outrage as he stood up from his seat and objected. "That's not fair!" The boy then proceeded to list a plethora of reasons why he should be able to keep his ninja tool pouch, all of which being unimaginative and childish. None of which came anywhere near convincing Hiruzen to change his mind.

Unsurprisingly, the boy offered little protest at being banned from the library.

Given the overall circumstances, Naruto was barely facing any repercussions for his actions at all. Hiruzen knew that the boy would likely have a new tool pouch and a replacement set of tools by the end of the week; he also knew that telling Naruto he wasn't allowed to do something and actually enforcing that rule were two completely different things. It wasn't going to curb his antics either, but at least this gesture would make him think twice before he pulled another stunt like this again. That was the hope, at least.

Hiruzen considered something along the lines of community service, but given Naruto's reputation and how the villagers tended to act when around the boy for an extended period of time, it would have likely done more harm than good.

Confiscating the boy's tools pouch and banning him from the library would be more likely to get the message across. That, and it would ensure that it would be some time before he could get into trouble again. Informing the boy of the penalty associated with stealing the forbidden scroll would also help matters.

There wasn't much else the Hokage could do, aside from a few more stern words regarding the significance of what Naruto had done. Well, technically there was, but it would either have to come later, or wouldn't achieve the desired results.

* * *

 **(Naruto's apartment—Noon)**

Naruto was slumped down at his table, making his displeasure with the situation very well known in the vocal sense. Not only had he failed to get any jutsu, but he lost all of his ninja tools, _and_ got banned from the library! Could this day get any worse?

Rai was lazily picking at his nails, cheek resting in his free hand. There wasn't much for the kitsune to do in this situation but wait for the brat to calm down. As it was, he hadn't gained any insight whatsoever into his sensing ability, so he wasn't exactly un-empathetic to Naruto's disappointment over the end result of their excursion into the restricted section.

"All that work for nothing… and even if I _did_ manage to get jutsu scrolls, they've got those funky symbols on em and stuff that I can't read!" Naruto ranted on, throwing a few frustrated jabs into his punching bag as he did so.

 **"You do realize** _ **I**_ **can read those symbols, right? I can't remember the name of them at the moment, but I** _ **can**_ **read what's on the scrolls at the very least."** The kitsune commented, growing tired of the brat's seemingly endless complaining.

Naruto dropped in on the kitsune's cage before pointing an accusatory finger at him. "You can actually read that junk? Why didn't you say so before?!"

Rai snorted and raised a hand in indignation as he retorted. **"I** _ **DID**_ **say so before!"**

"…Oh." Was all Naruto said as his hand slowly returned to his side. He vaguely recalled that, yes, the big fox _did_ tell him that before… or maybe he read some of the symbols before? Naruto couldn't remember, but he believed the big fox anyway.

Naruto raised his hand in pointing at the fox again before saying. "Hey, that means you could read what that big scroll had on it, right? Do you remember what it said?"

Disregarding the semantics of books and scrolls not being able to _say_ things, Rai shrugged and said. " **Yes, but it's nothing you could find use for practicing with. They're all either too advanced or too complicated, or they'd kill you if you tried to use them at your current skill level."**

"Oh…" The boy said, disappointed, but not dissuaded. Whatever was in that big scroll was probably cool, probably, but he needed something he could practice with! He didn't have time for anything that big scroll would have, he had to come up with another plan to get a jutsu!

Actually, speaking of which, there was still one thing he needed to gripe at the fox for.

"Hey, wry-fox, how the heck did you know there was a person standing guard in the restricted section anyway?"

The kitsune was caught off guard by the question almost completely, opting to attempt to deflect the question rather than answering it. He still hadn't intended for Naruto to learn about his ability just yet. **"I don't know what you're talking about. I noticed him out of the corner of my eyes, that's all."**

Naruto wasn't buying it. "But you _knew_ he was there, and where he was, even when I didn't… even when he was behind the book cases and stuff! I mean, I know you can see in the dark and all, being a fox, but since when could you see through _walls_?"

Rai was moderately impressed by the kid's sudden attentiveness, more so by the fact that he'd caught that detail at all given the situation at the time. The kitsune mulled it over for a moment, and ultimately decided that he may as well come clean. He intended to inform Naruto of the ability of his at _some point_ anyway, and it'd be more effort than it was worth to try and come up with some fabricated explanation. What was the harm in letting the boy know about the sensory ability sooner rather than later?

The kitsune rubbed his temples and lightly exhaled. **"Alright, fine. I suppose I could tell you, considering I was going to reveal this to you eventually. So, I seem have this ability where I'm able to sense people's negative emotions, the stronger they feel, the more defined they appear. Not only can I tell whether they're angry, fearful, sad, or otherwise upset, but I'm able to detect** _ **where**_ **they are, more or less. I haven't figured out all of the nuances of the ability just yet, but…** _ **that's**_ **how I was able to know where the guard was. I felt their emotional output and could tell where they were relative to where you were."** Rai hoped this barebones explanation would sate the boy's curiosity, or at least be an adequate explanation.

As luck would have it, that indeed was the case, though perhaps not in the manner Rai intended. "That's _so_ _COOL!_ Holy crap, you're like a sensor ninja! This is _awesome, Dattebayo!_ " Naruto excitedly exclaimed with any semblance of reserve thrown out the window. Just as suddenly as he had begun excitedly yammering on, he came to a screeching halt and went deep into thought, becoming motionless as he stood there.

Rai gave pause to the near-instantaneous shifts in the kid's demeanor, wondering for a brief moment if he had inadvertently done damage to Naruto's psyche somehow. " **Umm… kid?** "

"I know how we can still get a jutsu!" Naruto shouted while shooting a hand into the air; then exited the fox's prison, leaving a baffled and concerned Rai behind.

" **I-err…** _ **what**_ **?** " Was all that Rai was able to stammer out before Naruto left his sight. After a short time, the kitsune mused quietly to himself. **"That damn kid's brain is so scattered...it's a wonder how he can study at all.** **"** He sighed and laid his head upon his paws, shutting his eyes and letting his mind rest for a bit.

* * *

 **(Naruto's apartment—Half an hour later)**

Shikaku knocked on Naruto's apartment door for a third time, checking his pocket watch to make sure he had the right time. It wasn't unusual for the kid to be breaking from routine and being where he wasn't expected to be. "Troublesome…" The man muttered under his breath before turning to leave.

It wasn't like Naruto ventured far from his usual list of places to be, and even when he did, all one had to do was listen for the inevitable cries of outrage that surely followed in those instances. Shikaku decided to make things easier for himself and simply check the usual locations, then just come back here at a later time if that didn't pan out.

On the rooftops, Cat and Fox were finally able to return to their usual perch, having been held back by a disciplinary meeting with the hokage.

"I can't believe that brat got me cited! _Cited!_ Between that and being chewed out by Hiruzen-sama… That was so _humiliating_!" Cat complained, struggling to keep it in a whisper low enough that only Fox could hear.

Her partner was sympathetic, but also knew that in Cat's case it was more than likely no fault but her own. "It could have been worse…" He tried to say.

"Fox, _don't_." Was the venom coated retort shot back by Cat.

The fox masked ANBU was silent for a time, but eventually spoke up again. "Why didn't you wake me up? I had have helped."

"On the one night I manage to get your stubborn ass to sleep?"

"…You would have gone in after him sooner if I had been there."

Cat turned her head away with a huff before stating. "You're an _ass_."

"So she can dish it out but can't take it?" Fox was about to continue, but he realized something was wrong. Two things really. For one, there were two fresh scent trails from the kid entering and leaving his apartment. The other thing was Shikaku leaving earlier than he usually did. " _Eyes up?_ " he signed to his partner.

Cat simply huffed and flipped him the bird, but still activated her Byakugan. " _Target missing._ " She signed back.

Without missing a beat, Fox took off across the rooftops, following the scent trail. Cat quickly followed behind, keeping her Dojutsu up and sweeping for any sign of the kid.

* * *

 **(Konoha Library)**

 **"OK, so, enlighten me; what exactly is this plan of yours? I can't possibly fathom how you intend to obtain a jutsu scroll from the restricted section, in broad daylight, while everyone is out and about."** The kitsune asked with no effort to hide the sarcasm.

"Easy! You're gonna tell me when anyone's nearby using that sensor map and help me sneak past any shinobi in the restricted section. You can see where they are, and I can keep hidden! I'll walk right in and out when they're behind other bookshelves and can't see me." Came the boy's cheerful response.

Sensor map. Rai had to admit that the name was acceptable, though he hated the notion of going with yet another name given to him by Naruto. He still wasn't fully over the revelation of what _his_ name meant, though he conceded that such a thing didn't matter in this scenario.

More importantly, the kid's plan was… risky, but plausible. Assuming the individuals inside and around the restricted section were giving off enough negative emotion for him to sense, Rai would be able to know where they were. If Naruto was quick, he could avoid them and sneak in and out of the restricted section without much effort; in theory.

Rai wasn't entirely confident in the plan, or at all for that matter, but it was no use trying to argue.

 **"This seems unnecessarily risky… but, aright, if you're sure about this, I'll signal you when you've got an opening."**

Naruto was honestly feeling a bit uneasy about trying this stunt again, especially in broad daylight, _especially_ considering that the Hokage banned him from the library, but his impatience and stubbornness won out in that regard. He was doing this, and he was going to get a jutsu scroll _today_ , no more waiting for him.

So there he stood, looking as inconspicuous as he could near the restricted section, eyeing the wide open doors out of the corner of his vision.

Rai focused his ability, peering about his sensor map to see if he could pick up on anything. Sure enough, he did. The pings were faint, but visible enough that he could tell there were at least five individuals within the restricted section at that moment. Well, technically there were only four, the fifth was in the secluded portion where they kept the forbidden scroll.

The critical flaw in the plan reared its ugly head: Rai could tell where people were and what they felt, but what he _didn't_ have was the direction they were facing. Rai had no means of knowing what direction these shinobi were facing, sort of Naruto looking at them, which, defeated the purpose.

He supposed that it wasn't a completely terrible flaw in this specific scenario. So long as the individuals were behind book cases and shelving, it wouldn't necessarily matter where they were looking if they _couldn't_ have line of sight. If the two of them kept that detail in mind, it _might_ just work out. Maybe. If not, Naruto would be visiting the asinine old fool again.

Rai sighed and reassigned his thoughts to the task at hand, peering over his sensor map and taking note of where these shinobi were. He watched and waited, seeing them go about their business.

A few minutes passed before Naruto heard the big fox call out. **"OK,** _ **go."**_

Naruto swiftly strode past the double doors of the restricted section, initially going straight for the place he remembered getting that one jutsu scroll from. He kept himself as quiet as he could; he had to, considering how silent the library was.

A quick alert from Rai and he ducked behind a bookshelf, changing course and detouring around one of the shinobi that had moved near the boy's intended route.

" **Two of them are moving; one is moving away, the other is moving left. Third guy is on your left."**

Naruto heard one of the shinobi mutter something nearby, so he deftly crawled under a study table, nearly missing being spotted. He then quickly moved to behind a bookshelf to his left, on suggestion from the big fox. The boy stayed put until Rai gave him the signal that he was free to continue.

 **"You're almost there, watch out for the one coming up on your right; the shelf should be just up ahead."**

After another close call, Naruto arrived at that particular bookshelf. He didn't miss a beat, and swiftly grabbed what he deemed to be the same scroll from last time. The title seemed the same at least. Naruto quickly stuffed the scroll into his inner coat pocket and moved to the double doors again, though he was forced to take yet another detour, and then another before he could get there.

He ducked behind a shelf, right as one chunin turned in his direction.

 **"I suggest picking up the pace and getting out of there."**

Naruto peeked round the shelf to make sure he had a straight shot to the exit. He would have asked the fox if the coast was clear, but he needed to be silent. Luckily, Rai was ahead of him.

" **You should be clear for now, go!"**

He didn't hesitate, Naruto darted for the exit at a speed that kept him speedy but didn't cause any additional noise like running would have. Just past the double doors and he was in the clear.

The boy managed to get out of the restricted section without being spotted, or so he'd thought. Had Rai not sensed the obvious presence trailing after Naruto from the restricted section, all that effort would have once again been for nothing.

 **"Dammit, one of them spotted you; he's coming this way. I** _ **told**_ **you this was a bad idea."** Rai stated, having expected this to happen from the start.

If Naruto's heart wasn't racing before, it sure was now. Well, his heart _was_ racing before that, but now it was even more-so.

Naruto shifted his coat, sliding a hand into the inside pocket. From there, he reached out with it and smacked it to one of the nearby shelves with scrolls stacked neatly on it. He then slid the hand back to his inner coat pocket just as quickly, before making a break for it and running towards the exit at full speed.

Rai would have asked what the boy hoped to accomplish in doing such a thing, but he never got the chance.

The shout heard from behind him verified to Naruto that, yes, he had _definitely_ been spotted. That, and he was now being chased. A chase that didn't last for more than a few seconds as he was easily caught up to and grabbed roughly by the back of his coat. Naruto hadn't even gotten halfway to the library's main exit.

"And where do you think _you're_ running off to in such a hurry?" came the sternly toned question of the Chunin that currently had firm hold of the boy.

Naruto chuckled nervously and tried to get free, to no avail. "Just, checking out some cool scrolls and stuff, you know?" He offered as a particularly lame excuse.

The Chunin clearly wasn't buying it. He must have seen Naruto take the scroll, because the first thing he did was reach into the boy's inner coat and pull out the scroll that lay within. "And what might _this_ be?" He said as he waggled the scroll about in the air, punctuating his point.

"A cool scroll I wanted to check out!" Naruto replied with a particularly cheeky grin.

The deadpan look given by the Chunin clearly showed weren't in the mood for games. The man sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, just above a large horizontal scar. "Look, kid, did you _really_ think you could just walk into a room full of Chunin level shinobi and walk out without anyone noticing?"

Naruto didn't really have any witty comeback planned for that.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Alrighty, let's take a look at what you-", Upon closer inspection, the scroll that the Chunin currently had in his hand was just a journal of sorts. It was one of those biographies typically written by shinobi and adventurers and the like over the years… certainly nothing that would have been obtained in the restricted section. "Ok, what the hell? I could have sworn I saw you take something from one of the shelves in the restricted section!" The baffled Chunin asserted.

Naruto kept the same grin from before as he said, "I didn't take anything from that place, honest!"

"This isn't a joke, kid! What'd you take from the restricted section? You know you can get into some serious trouble for that, right?"

It then dawned on the man, that the grinning brat he had in his grasp was the nearly infamous prankster himself. He'd obviously just been pranked _hard_ by this kid, making him think he was taking something from the restricted section so as to get someone to chase after him. The blonde shouldn't have been in there, and him immediately making a run for it meant he _knew_ he wasn't supposed to be in there.

Yeah, it was obvious, this was some dumb prank.

"Kid's up to his usual shenanigans, huh?" Came Shikaku's voice from down the aisle. He'd arrived just in time to witness the chase that lasted all but two seconds and was casually strolling over to the two. He came to a stop just a few feet from the two, casting a glance at Naruto before looking to the Chunin. "So, what'd he do this time?"

The Chunin gave Shikaku the scroll he'd just confiscated before saying. "Sir, I saw Naruto Uzumaki trying to sneak out of the restricted section; he had _this_ scroll on him, a scroll that was from out here in the public access portion of the library. I'm thinking he made it to look like he was taking a scroll from the restricted section so as to antagonize a chase and-"

Shikaku had his hand raised to politely interrupt. "That's plenty, I'm pretty familiar with the kid's antics. Thanks, you can go, I'll handle things from here."

Without much in the way of protest, the Chunin offered a curt bow, then offered a quick glance at Naruto before quickly returning to what he'd been doing previously.

"And here I figured this would be the _last_ place I'd find you; lucky break for me to check here first. Lucky for you too, huh?" Was Shikaku's follow up comment.

The boy folded his arms in childish defiance whilst stating. "I didn't need your help, it was just a prank." Causing to the Nara to raise an eyebrow, thus leading Naruto to persist with his demeanor.

Shikaku was a bit confused by the explanation given to him regarding the two-second chase he witnessed. "Uh-huh… so what was that all about?"

"I was bored." Naruto quickly blurted out.

The Nara blinked and looked unimpressed by the explanation. "You pretended to take something from the restricted section… because you were bored?"

The boy nodded and reiterated, "I was _really_ bored."

Shikaku still wasn't buying it, but he really wasn't up for pulling teeth over something so trivial. He eyed over the scroll, noting the title, then held it out to Naruto. "Well, you've had your fun, now put this back. I'll wait for you by the entrance."

Naruto blinked and stared at the outstretched scroll for a brief moment, but decided to take it and do as he was told. Just this once. He headed back to where he'd gotten this scroll, pausing to see Shikaku heading to the library entrance before going the rest of the way to the specific aisle.

Once there, he glanced around, ensuring nobody was looking. He slid the scroll back into its place on the shelf, after removing the Jutsu scroll he'd swapped it with earlier.

Rai sat up in his cage, snorting in disbelief before stating. **"So** _ **that**_ **was why you stopped and slapped your hand to the bookshelf while you were fleeing, clever brat."**

The blonde chuckled and wiggled his fingers in the air in a playful display. "Sight of hand!"

" **I think you mean** _ **Sleight**_ **of hand.** "

"Yeah, that's what I said." There was a brief pause after that, during which Naruto tucked the jutsu scroll away in his inner coat pocket and made sure it was hidden as best he could manage. He then zipped up his coat, just to be safe, and made his way to the library entrance where Shikaku was waiting.

 **"You're** _ **sure**_ **you just do these kinds of things as a hobby? You seem awfully skilled at this for someone who doesn't steal for a living."** The big fox said with a generous dose of sarcasm.

Naruto sighed and replied with a mildly irritated tone. "Please _stop_ , that's not funny anymore." He hadn't realized it, but he was within earshot of Shikaku when he replied to the kitsune.

" _What's_ not funny anymore?" Shikaku asked; he figured that the kid had been speaking to the kyuubi when he said that, given the context. As such, he wasn't expecting a very informative response, but he still had to ask.

"Nothing."

After the expected lack of adequate response came to pass, Shikaku sighed and muttered, "Of course…" Then turned to leave the library. He gestured for Naruto to follow; the boy did, and from there the Nara's mind briefly wandered as they made their way to the child's apartment.

At the forefront of his mind was the chase he'd seen, obviously. Naruto was known for his attention seeking antics, as Shikaku knew firsthand, but pulling a "prank" in the restricted section? That was riskier than what was the norm for the kid. Shikaku couldn't put his finger on it, but something about that rubbed him the wrong way. He considered the implications as the two came to the halfway point between Konoha library and Naruto's apartment complex. _'Maybe the kid really_ was _trying to nick something from the restricted section? Maybe he realized he'd been caught and ditched the plan; If that's the case, what was he trying to get?'_

 _'...Or maybe I'm making too many assumptions, and maybe the kid was just being extra knuckleheaded today_.' He deferred back to the explanation given to him by the Chuunin, conceding that until he was given sufficient reason to think otherwise, he'd stick with that for now.

The both of them wordlessly continued the rest of the way to Naruto's apartment.

"Alright, let's get this over with." Was Shikaku's nonchalant statement as they reached Naruto's front door a short time later.

Naruto, of course, halfheartedly stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry. He'd be happy when he could stop wasting time with learning about _taking care of himself_. Naruto still firmly believed he survived on his own just fine, no matter what Hiruzen said to the contrary. That smll never bothered him, and he was the only one that lived here.

Shikaku stepped to the side and gestured for Naruto to open the door. As the boy did so, Shikaku took a moment to voice what he'd been unable to yesterday. "What that parent did at the library yesterday was wrong."

Naruto stopped and looked up at the man with a confused expression. "Huh?"

"Yesterday at the library, when that parent had his outburst towards you. The crap that guy said to you and then shoving you like that… it wasn't right. I just wanted you to know that you didn't deserve any of that." The Nara reiterated, idly folding his arms as he waited for the door to be opened.

The boy stared for a good moment or two, his expression being a slightly confused variant of "neutral". Naruto wasn't sure what to feel about what he was just told, and he certainly didn't know what to say afterwards.

A few minutes passed with Naruto looking to the ground in thought, and Shikaku could tell that he probably threw the poor kid's train of thought into disarray with what he'd told him. After another minute passed, he decided to casually make the comment. "So, are you gonna open the door, or are we gonna stand out here in the cold?" In a lighthearted effort to get Naruto's attention.

The comment seemed to work as intended, since Naruto promptly unlocked the door a few seconds later.

* * *

 **(Yamanaka compound—Later that day)**

"Same story, different day?" Shikaku asked in a pseudo anticipatory fashion that clearly stated that he knew what was coming next. He'd come to be able to almost perfectly predict his former teammate's recollection of the counceling sessions with Naruto Uzumaki for the past few weeks.

A small amount of progress would frequently be made with Naruto, but the Kyuubi either deflected, ignored, or mocked every attempt to communicate with it almost every time. It mildly amused and annoyed Inoichi that things had become monotonous in such a way, and Shikaku made a point to mention this monotony every time they met up in the hopes that maybe something would change. "Unfortunately, yes. Progress with Naruto, next to nothing in regards to his big red friend. How about things on your end?" Inoichi replied.

No such luck; not this time.

The two of them presently sat across from one another at a small dining table, a bottle of some mild alcoholic beverage sitting at the center. Inoichi held a half full glass in his hand, while Shikaku moved to refill his own.

"Not much has changed. Like I said last week, he's been doing less of his usual antics and spending a decent chunk of his time with those pre-academy books." The Nara declared as he finished topping off his glass. He went to take a sip, but stopped halfway, raising a finger and continuing to speak. "However, something… _interesting_ happened at Konoha Library today."

Inoichi smirked and jokingly threw out a few guesses, "Was it the chair bridge again? Or was it the tower of journals? My personal favorite was the _organized chaos._ I still can't figure out how he managed to find the time to swap out every other book with-" Though he abruptly stopped upon noticing the deadpan look he was receiving from Shikaku. "Oh, something serious then. Alright, let's hear it."

Shikaku took a drink from his glass, then continued his train of thought. "Apparently, Naruto snuck into the restricted section; in broad daylight no-less. I walked in on the kid being chased down by a Chuunin."

"Are you serious? Was he trying to get his hands on a jutsu scroll?" came Inoichi's response with an expression and tone that said he expected something like this to happen.

The Nara paused and furrowed his brow at the oddly specific question. "I… don't think so? Well, I have reason to suspect he may have been after _something_ in the restricted section. What makes you say _that_?"

"Naruto has adamantly voiced his displeasure over the fact that his pre-academy reading material didn't have any ninjutsu techniques in it. It was the first thing to come to mind." Inoichi clarified. "So, what _did_ he end up taking, if he took anything at all?"

Shikaku shrugged. "Nothing I'd need to concern myself with. He had a non-restricted scroll, a biography on one of the Hokages, I think it was one of the ones about the Sandaime." The man paused to take another drink before continuing. "I made him put it back, and I didn't see any indication he was hiding anything. As far as I can tell, it seemed like he may have been _trying_ to snatch something restricted; then, he got caught midway through and bailed out into a backup plan. The Chuunin that caught him seemed to think that the kid intentionally made it look like he was trying to sneak into the restricted section in this convoluted scheme to get someone to chase him, but I'm not sure I buy it."

Inoichi nodded; but was quick to offer his own interpretation of the events. " _Or_ , perhaps he was originally reading up on our Hokage, but became bored and sought a distraction? You did say he had a biography of the Sandaime in his possession, well… Naruto has a high respect for the Hokage, and his behavior indicates that he looks up to the position of Hokage with a sort of reverence. He's also mentioned, several times, that he desires to obtain such a position at some point in his life." Inoichi offered.

"Yeah, _perhaps_ …" Shikaku said, shortly before taking another sip of his drink.

Inoichi continued, "I'm thinking, maybe Naruto was trying to gain insight into what it might take for him to become Hokage someday. The reading material likely couldn't hold his short attention span for very long. Feeling bored, he decided to instigate trouble; the most obvious and quickest way for him to obtain the desired response was to trick a Chuunin into thinking he was sneaking into the restricted section."

Shikaku wasn't amused, but the explanation did sound like something the kid might do. It also helped that it made more sense the way Inoichi explained it than the Chuunin had. "Troublesome, but that does make more sense in the overall scheme of things. Besides, if the kid _did_ nick something from that place, I'm pretty confident his babysitters would have done something about it… so no need for me to intervene."

Inoichi gave a knowing smirk. "You're just looking for an excuse not to intervene."

"No, I'm not."

The Yamanaka laughed and persisted. "Oh-ho, yes you are! I know how you get when it comes to these situations. Come on, we've been teammates for how long now?"

The Nara huffed and grumbled under his breath.

"Your laziness is going to rub off onto Shikamaru, you can count on that." Inoichi finished as he raised his glass in emphasis.

"Great, first my wife, now one of my old teammates is giving me grief over my kid's laziness."

Both clan heads had a good laugh at that.

* * *

 **(Naruto's apartment)**

Naruto was seated at his table, holding the unfurled scroll against the table and going over it for the second time. Just like the first, he simply couldn't decipher what was written on the scroll. To be completely fair, he hadn't simply skimmed over it or anything of the sort his first time reading through, but seeing as he couldn't make out enough of what these symbols meant to adequately "read" the material, it didn't make much of a difference in the end.

"I still can't ready any of this… I mean, are these even _words?_ " The boy said aloud, letting go of the scroll and scratching his head in bafflement. He _thought_ he might understand what a few of these symbols meant and be able to figure something out. No such luck; even if one or two of these meant what he thought they meant, that didn't do him much good if he couldn't form sentences.

He shrugged his shoulders, deciding that he didn't have any choice but to ask Rai to help him out. Thus, he went to the big fox's prison; oddly enough, the kitsune had apparently been expecting him. Naruto was about to open his mouth, just as Rai beat him to it.

The fox had a mildly tired look on his face as he said. **"I believe those symbols are called** _ **Kanji**_ **, if I'm remembering correctly."** Rai had half expected the boy to have been here sooner than this, given that Naruto couldn't read Kanji and the scroll was almost exclusively written in kanji.

He supposed it was convenient that he remembered what the symbols were called, it would have been annoying to have to let Naruto come up with a name for them. Well, more than annoyed, he _dreaded_ the notion of allowing Naruto to come up with a name for anything.

Naruto silently stood there, looking up at the fox as if waiting for something else to happen. When it didn't, he said. "Sooo…?" In a drawn out manner.

The fox simply stared back at the boy, unsure what exactly it was he was doing. That is, up until the obvious explanation hit him and he begrudgingly answered. **"…** _ **Yes,**_ **I'll help you translate the scroll, as I** _ **clearly**_ **offered to do before. However, you're going to need to write things down as I tell you. Not because I won't be able to remember it, but because I don't feel like having to repeat myself."**

"And because it'd be easier for you since I don't have to bug you if I forget anything. I can just use the stuff I write down!" Naruto added.

Rai would have shot a retort, but paused and considered that the boy's statement _wasn't_ completely asinine. He settled for a huff and stated. **"Yes, that too."**

And so it went, Naruto returned to reality with Rai over his shoulder. He grabbed a blank scroll that he had handy, brushing off the coating of dust it had, and then took up a pencil to go with it. He proceeded to make room on the table and then sat down with his writing instrument and scroll in place. "Ready to write!" He boldly stated as he put pencil to paper and waited for Rai's instruction.

A minute passed in silence before Naruto looked up to no place in particular and asked. "Uhh… Rai? You there?"

In a voice of barely concealed condescension, the big fox said. **"Naruto, I can't translate what I can't see."**

"Oh, whoops." Naruto pulled the jutsu scroll closer to himself and gazed over it so that Rai could see. "That better?"

 **"Much better. Now, follow exactly what I tell you to write."**

The boy sat and wrote, jotting down what the fox dictated to him.

Naruto stopped roughly an hour later and eyed over what he had written down so far. "Oh _come on!_ Even in regular words I still can't understand this!" He shouted aloud, lightly banging his fist against the table in frustration. All that work, and he was no closer to a jutsu than he was the night before.

 **"Oh and who's fault might that be? Maybe the one who didn't study Chakra like his** _ **friend**_ **suggested?"** Came the kitsune's mocking tone.

"I never said I wasn't going to study Chakra, I just said I didn't want to right away." Was the expected protest from Naruto.

Rai snorted lightly. **"And look where that got you."** He made no effort to hide his snark.

Naruto stood before the kitsune's prison gates in an exaggerated pose of defiance, jabbing his thumb towards himself in an emphasizing gesture. "Hey, I got a jutsu scroll and managed to juke several Chuunin!" His pose slouched slightly as he sheepishly added. "With your help."

The kitsune simply chuckled and grinned at the boy, satisfied with the result of that little round of button pushing. **"Fair enough… at any rate, we might be able to streamline the process of you studying for Chakra and learning the ropes for using your mobility techniques. Much of the requirements for this jutsu appear to be a manner of simply having your chakra flow through your body and activate the various muscle groups…** _ **etcetera**_ **. You might just be able to combine your efforts in chakra studies into training to use this jutsu."**

Naruto folded his arms and tilted his head. "How the heck is _that_ supposed to work?"

Rai's ear flicked and he mildly growled in irritation at such an asinine question. **"I literally** _ **just**_ **told you how it was supposed to work! The Jutsu scroll's instructions coincide with learning the ropes of chakra and how it's used. You can simultaneously train with this jutsu while learning about Chakra, as I've pointed out twice now.** "

Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head and said with a giggle. "Oh, right. I guess that makes sense."

Sometimes the kitsune swore Naruto intentionally acted in such an idiotic fashion to get a rise out of him. **"So far you have half of the scroll translated, lets finish it up so I can be done with this."**

Before the kitsune went any further though, he added. **"Oh, and you should probably return this,** _ **tonight**_ **, preferably. The last thing we need is someone noticing the scroll is gone and finding it in your possession. Considering that the old fool banned you from the library, such an event wouldn't end well."** After that, he laid his head down upon his forearms and continued dictating to Naruto the translation of what was written on the jutsu scroll.

Outside Naruto's apartment, Fox and Cat were perched atop the roof of a neighboring building that allowed them to peer through one of the kid's windows. Normally the two would rely on Cat's dojutsu to keep tabs on the kid from a concealed position, but Fox insisted that they try to gain visual on the scroll in the boy's possession.

"Anything?" Fox whispered quizzically.

Cat leaned to get as good an angle as she could manage, trying to catch a glimpse of the scroll. She eventually shook her head and leaned away from the ledge of the rooftop. "I caught some of what the kid was writing through his wrist movements, it's just a guide on mobility from the looks of it. Nothing worth getting worked up over."

"That's it? Then what the hell was he running out of the restricted section in Konoha library for?" Jun scratched his head in thought, trying to make sense of the event they witnessed earlier at Konoha library.

"Fox, we both saw Shikaku Nara leaving with the brat, and I myself saw the kid get the scroll confiscated. If he _did_ leave with a scroll, it was from the regular part of the library, or it was something Shikaku gave him." Cat said. She looked to her teammate and patted him on the shoulder in a reassuring manner.

Cat then continued. "Besides, there were five shinobi of at least _Chuunin_ rank in the restricted section at the time, there was no way in hell he would have been able to leave that place with something we'd need to be concerned about him having. Either way, it's nothing for us to intervene over."

The fox masked ANBU didn't like it, but his teammate had a valid point. "That makes sense… alright, I guess I'll refer to your judgement on this one."

"And that's my sign to buy a lottery ticket." Cat said with a quiet laugh.

Fox wasn't very amused, "You act as if I've never trusted your judgement before."

Cat simply sat there and stared at her teammate and silently judging them for completely missing the punchline of her comment.

"Still, the kid shouldn't have been there in the first place. Hiruzen-sama clearly told him that he was banned from that location." The fox masked ANBU contemplated aloud.

His partner was quick to retort. "Fox, since _when_ does that kid ever _not_ -go where he isn't allowed? Trying to prevent him from going someplace, you might as well put up a sign saying, _Naruto, please come in!_ "

"Fair enough. If he doesn't return it by tomorrow, I'll stay back when he goes off to lunch and confiscate the scroll, just to be safe."

Back inside the apartment, Naruto pressed on and wrote everything exactly as Rai told him to. He kept at it for the next hour, give or take several minutes, though he largely didn't keep track of time. Once finished, he slapped his pencil to the table and blurted out, "Done, finally!"

 **"Actually, I have a few things I'd like you to write down for-"** Rai had begun to say.

Naruto immediately reacted to the sudden addition of work and interrupted the big fox before he could continue. He threw his hands up in obnoxious fashion and verbally protested, "Oh come on, wry-fox! Why didn't you say something earlier?!"

Rai was having none of it, biting out an irate retort right as the last syllable left Naruto's mouth. **"I just spent the past three hours painstakingly translating a jutsu scroll for you, and you have the** _ **audacity**_ **to complain about me asking you to write something down for me?"**

Naruto hastily backtracked; he popped into view before the fox's cage and waved a hand in defensive gesture. "Th-that's not what I meant, I was just-" But the fox didn't let him finish.

 **"Frustrated that I'd ask you to do more writing right after you finished writing out the translation for this jutsu scroll? Yes, I figured as much, but you could try being frustrated** _ **without**_ **the impudent attitude."** The big fox said with a stern tone. Although the fox's tone of voice was rough, his facial expression was less negative than the boy was expecting.

"Well… yeah, that." Naruto said in response to the fox's fairly accurate perception of what happened. He eventually followed up with. "…So, what did you want me to write?" After several moments in silence.

Rai huffed, his expression transitioning back to his usual neutral one. **"I had something that I wanted written down for later use, just in case I managed to forget it by then."**

"Well, yeah, but… what _is_ it?" Naruto asked bluntly, with a quizzical tilt of his head.

 **"Something we both might find a use for at some point, but nothing either of us can use as we are."** Rai continued.

Naruto folded his arms and gave a deadpan look as he stated. "That still doesn't tell me what it _is_ …"

The kitsune would have gotten irritated at that, but he realized the context of Naruto's question and mentally facepalmed. **"I need you to write out a few lines in Kanji, I'll walk you through the shapes and how to put them. It doesn't need to be perfect, just legible enough for me to read and be able to remember from."**

The boy gave an uncertain look but was otherwise eager to help the big fox. "Sure, how hard can writing this _kanji_ stuff be?"

As it turned out, this endeavor wound up being a lot harder than either of them had anticipated.

Several minues in had the both of them arguing back and forth about the legibility of the scattered lines and scribbles that Naruto insisted were accurate representations of the Kanji symbols Rai was tyring to explain in detail.

 **"No, no,** _ **no!**_ **That's** _ **not**_ **how that symbol is supposed to look! I said at a downward angle, starting from the top of the previous line, about a half millimeter over! Do you really think that's at** _ **all**_ **fitting my description?** "

"Hey, _you_ explained it! I just followed what you said! It's not _my_ fault I don't know what the heck a milli-, mil, mell…meter-thing is!" Said the boy in response.

 **"How do you not know what a millimeter is?!"**

"I'm _seven_!"

Rai pointed out another of the symbols. **"This one here is absolutely horrible, your lines cross over one another! They're supposed to be close, not on** _ **top**_ **of one another!"**

"I'm doing the best I can, making the lines so close together is _hard!_ "

The Kitsune groaned and ran a hand over his face in exasperation. This was _impossible_ , he'd never be able to get the kid to write anything close to acceptable Kanji. But he supposed this atrocious attempt was legible enough for _him_ to be able to figure out what each symbol was supposed to be. He'd prefer a much cleaner series of symbols, but these might be the best he was going to get.

 **"Just… make sure you put this someplace hidden once we're done writing these down."**

Naruto squinted at no place in particular as he curiously asked. "….Why do you want me to do _that_?"

Rai quickly thought up a suitable answer to satisfy the brat's curiosity without divulging the nature of the symbols. **"Well, obviously because it's a ninja secret between the two of us; we can't let** _ **anyone**_ **know about it."**

The brief flicker of wonder that flashed across Naruto's eyes as he said " _awesome_!" Indicated that he'd bought the fabricated answer.

It wasn't that Rai didn't trust Naruto… well, at least, he didn't trust him to keep his mouth shut about it if he knew that these lines of Kanji were entries from the so called _Forbidden Scroll_. Additionally, he despised the thought of that brat going on and on nagging Rai to teach him how to best use these entries, but that was more an annoyance than a legitimate concern. No, it was more that he was worried what would happen if that meddlesome Hokage caught wind of Naruto having a copy of a few entries from the Scroll of Seals.

If Naruto didn't know what the symbols were, he didn't need to worry about the kid blabbing to anyone. These entries from the scroll might come in handy later, but for now, they didn't serve much purpose to either himself or the boy. Rai wasn't in any position to be trying any forbidden jutsu whilst trapped in this prison. Naruto, well, Naruto hadn't so much as enrolled in the shinobi academy yet; teaching _him_ any of these forbidden jutsu was simply out of the question.

Perhaps if Naruto wasn't the only person that had access to this prison, he'd be more open to the idea of giving Naruto these "dangerous" jutsu before he was ready. As it stood, Naruto was a critically important asset to Rai, so knowingly putting him in danger by teaching him jutsu he wasn't ready for was an unacceptable idea.

No, he'd let the kid start small, those forbidden jutsu would have to be shelved.

Meanwhile, outside Naruto's apartment, Cat was trying her best to figure out what the brat was scribbling down.

"So can you read what he's writing, or not?" Fox questioned for the tenth time.

Cat shook her head and sighed. "I _think_ he's trying to write in traditional… the brat's Kanji is so bad that it looks more like a loosely assembled series of mazes. It's clear he's trying to write _something_ , but whatever it is, I can't read it."

Fox pondered the implications in this and considered the brief argument he'd overheard from Naruto concerning the kanji symbols. Given the one-sided nature of the argument, he could only assume that the person the kid was arguing with was the Kyuubi. ' _If I didn't know any better,_ _I'd think_ _the Kyuubi might be trying to teach him how to write Kanji. Psh, yeah right, can't imagine why that demon fox would want to teach the kid how to write traditional.'_

"So, you want me to run a report to the Hokage?" Cat said, bringing Fox out of his thoughts.

"No?" the man stated with a bit of confusion. "Cat, it's just kanji. The kid wants to be a shinobi, right? Every shinobi needs to be familiar with Kanji at some point. Maybe if we knew _what_ he was writing, it might be worth a report, but as it stands, all we know for certain is that he has terrible handwriting."

Cat simply eyed over Fox and gave an amused huff at her teammate not being excessively paranoid for once.

"…What?" Fox inquired, not entirely sure why his teammate was giving him that look. This only served to further amuse her.

Back in the apartment, Naruto had finished the last of the Kanji symbols. They were of atrocious quality, but there was little Naruto could do to improve them.

 **"OK, now find a spot to put these, someplace safe, someplace** _ **hidden**_ **."** Said the kitsune.

The boy went to his room and quickly stowed the shoddily written Kanji into his night stand drawer. "There, safe and hidden."

Rai blinked and had a look indicating lack of amusement, **"Really? Your bedside drawer?"**

"What? Nobody would think to look here, right?"

The fox planted a palm to his forehead in mild irritation. **"You don't have a hidden floorboard, or wall panel?"**

Naruto tilted his head and scrunched up his face in quizzical fashion. "But wouldn't that be the first place someone would try to look for?"

Rather than trying to argue his point, the fox decided to let it go. **"Nevermind; just remember to return that jutsu scroll tonight. It doesn't have to go back into the restricted section, just leave it at the library and make sure nobody sees you."**

The blonde gave Rai the thumbs up, and then went back to his dinner table to get started with his Chakra studies, and by extension, his mobility jutsu. Naruto was, at the very least, eager to get started.

After all, he had a jutsu to learn.

* * *

 ** _Author's note_**

Aaaaand done! Chapter 12 veryone, I hope you enjoyed this one. I was going to have this one be a bit longer and feature another sequnce at the end, but that final sequence of the original cut was really stretching out this chapter to the point of being close to 15k words, and it wasn't even finished yet!

I cut the final sequence and will instead have it be the start for the next chapter. It had a few weeks of a timeskip anyway, so it'd flow better having it be a new chapter rather than cramming it into the end of this one.

At least _this_ chapter didn't take as long to publish as the last one... that's mostly my fault though, so no biggie. Just me being nervous about the upload had me delay this an extra day...blegh. I'm such a coward sometimes.

Anywho, lets get to it.

This chapter picks up right where we left off last chapter, and sorry for the cliffhanger, I know I know, I hate cliffhangers too! I'm gonna make it a habit to _not_ use cliffhangers except for rare occasions where it might add some needed flair...or if I'm being a lazy [redacted]

Darn Naruto and being uneducated and not adopted by a ninja clan! He was unable to read the kanji exclusive Scroll of Seals! Not that he'd have been able to use a jutsu from that thing anyways...since he hasn't even started studying chakra by that time. OH, but you know who _does_ know how to read Kanji? Of course you do, you read the chapter!

Yeah, there's plenty in this chapter that I was more or less forced to just make up as I went due to a distinct lack of the context being unaddressed in the anime. I tried to make it kinda make sense and still align to how it's presented canonically, as I will in the future. I want to remain loyal to most of the lore, but there's just soooo many gaps in information that I really need, so some artistic liberty _has_ to be taken, even if this wasn't an AU. Yeah, it's an AU and I technically have free reign, (technically) I do not want to veer too far from certain aspects of canon and the lore in the Naruto-verse. You have to understand, it's pretty scary for me writing this up and having to fill in certain gaps. I'm terrified of presenting something incorrectly, or doing something that might put off the readers. Remember, I'm not just writing this story for me. I want the readers to enjoy this too!

I really wrote myself into a corner (or so I thought) with Naruto being caught by Cat and having his gear (obviously) confiscated as a result. Our stubborn blonde _had_ to have that jutsu, there wasn't any silly ban that could stop him! That, and he had Rai-dar! ...I'm sorry, please don't kill me.

Rai completely forgot the whole reason he wanted Naruto to go to the library originally. Though, it's also a point to know that I couldn't find any real context behind Rai's ninja radar besides the obvious that's already been stated... I was disappointed that they never went into detail about the ability, but that's just the way it is. Either that, or I completely missed something down the line. IDK, either way, I had to forget about them actually fulfilling that little arc of Rai learning more about the ability, because there just wasn't enough information about that sensor ability of his and I'm not confident enough to come up with anything more on my own!

Naruto managed to do his little stunt in the middle of the day without Cat or Fox knowing about it because they happened to not be there when Naruto pulled it off. Yeah, I sort of jerry rigged that sequence in, but it kinda makes sense that they'd be a little busy getting chewed out by the Hokage over their negligence (Cat's negligence mostly) since the forbidden scroll is kind of a big deal.

Speaking of the forbidden scroll, I've seen the scroll's security covered in other fanfics, and they're fairly reasonable. The way I had it, and hinted at, is that it's got a "tripwire" esc system built in that if anyone leaves that classified room with the scroll, the security activates and a team is dispatched to both reclaim it and apprehend the person that took it. AT least, that's how I imagine it in my head? If anyone has a better idea for how they might protect the scroll, well, I don't doubt that its probably better.

More demonstrations of the language barrier present in my story. I might need to make a name for "english" for if they refer to it by name, but I decidd to just stick with "Kanji" and "Romaji" for the inclusion of Japanese. I thought it would be an interesting way to include Japanese with a reasonable explanation instead of just having it in there for the sake of anime reasons. A personal pet peeve of mine is seeing folks put in Japanese dialect for things like Jutsu and honorifics, but keep english for the rest of everything else. I'll offer an In-story explanation during the academy, but to summarize, the civilization in Naruto started with japanse, and eventually started using a more modular language. Japanse has very specific terms and letters for everything. English relies more on tone and context to define its words. That, and I wanted to include some Japanese and have the language barrier in for Naruto to have to deal with...and I know some fans prefer the inclusion of Japanse terms, so...uh. Yeah. I put in japanese, and I'm trying to have it be there for a reason and not just "because". If anyone has an idea for what to call "English" instead of "english" by all means...please tell me, my naming suuuucks, in case that wasn't already obvious.

I've tried to make the minor timeskips fluid and reasonable, and add in tidbits alluding to what's been going on between timeskips and in the background. I really don't like doing this, since I prefer "show don't tell", but if I didn't skip along and move the plot forward, this story would very quickly become stagnant and the plot would slow to a crawl...so...yeah. I'm doing the best I can to offer insight into background goings on, but I'm not all that great with the fluff.

If a story is like a cheeseburger, I like to think I make a mean patty and use a nice quality cheese, but my bun is a bland pair of bread slices.

I don't think I really need to get into character development explanations, I mean, I'd probably mess up what the story itself is accomplishing.

Anywho, that's all for now. Enjoy!


	13. Chapter 13: The Training Field

Hello again everyone! Long time no see, I know, and I'm terribly sorry for my hiatus.

 _ **I have some important things to say, so, please hear me out.**_

First, My job has gotten to the point where they're having me come in for a full-time work schedule, when its supposed to be just a part time thing. I like being able to earn more money to support myself with, but it also comes with the drawback that I have almost no time at all to dedicate to the story. I'm looking into ways to enable myself more time to dedicate to the fic, but given that my college loans are here, just calling for days off from my job isn't an option. Also, I'm moving into my own place! And that comes with all the stress and time consuming packing! Yay! Good news though is that I'll finally have a damn desk to work at (thank GOD) No more sitting on the floor with a halphazardly strewn together set of pillows and blankets and a flimsey computer lap table thingy with wires protruding from every direction!

unfortunately, that also is a financial drawback for me, meaning I NEED the constant work days to keep making enough money to support myself. I'm looking into finding a new job, or furthering my intended career of content creation, but I don't have anything set in stone just yet. I considered opening a (insert censored fund donor site here) (no I'm not joking they censored it) or something to help supplement my finances so I don't have to work as much, but that honestly feels like a form of E-begging if this story is all I have to offer. I'll make due with what I have for now. Maybe if my content creation and live streaming starts gaining traction then I'll do a (insert censored fund donor site here) , but untill then, it's off to work with me for the daily grind!

Moving on from personal home issues... I have some unfortunate news. I've been going back and editing earlier chapters to make them easier to read and follow dialogue with, and adding bits of polish and minor things here and there. You all know I was implementing beta readers in the process of printing out my chapters, but due to how new I was to this whole concept, I wasn't entirely sure what I was doing. I recently found out that one of my beta readers has been changing parts of my story and making erroneous edits that significantly changes the context of dialogue in some places. It isn't anything "major"..I think/hope, but its still disheartening to know this has been going on.

They've made alterations to my work before, originally it was just paragraph formatting (something I was grateful for)...but there were obvious changes outside format alterations (changing character names) that I caught and edited out to their original status. There was also erroneous proofreading and text edits I did not approve of. I requested that this beta reader NOT edit my work in such a way in the future, and I thought that had been the end of it and they'd just format paragraphs like they originally offered. Turns out, no it hand't. They'd been altering a whole lot more and I hadn't caught on to it initially due to the subtle nature of the edits. Needless to say, I'm **_understandably angry and frustrated_** with this individual (whom I won't name out of courtesy) I asked them to not make these edits without my consent and they've done so anyway despite my requests.

I have a writing style, a method to my madness, a specific way I want my writing to be presented as...and they inadvertently undermined all of that when they did what they did.

I deeply appreciated their formatting help early on, but its gotten to a point where I have to put my foot down and say enough is enough.

I'll do it myself from now on.

I won't name names, I don't want to start drama; I just wanted you all to know what was going on behind the scenes, I hate leaving people in the dark.

I'm going to go back and sift through the chapters to make sure they're exactly the way I originally envisioned them to be, and ensure nothing overly drastic has been altered. It was my mistake for being too trusting (maybe even a bit of lazyness on my part due to how exhausted I am at the end of a paragraph), and _I will correct that mistake_ , but it will take time.

ANywho, that nastyness out of the way...

I'm going through previous chapters and shortening up the word vomity author's notes, makes the chapters less word inflated.

You wonderful readers have waited long enough. I hope you enjoy!

 ** _End AN_**

* * *

( _ **Near an unspecified Konoha training field: Early Afternoon**_ )

( _ **Late February**_ )

The snow had long since cleared from Konoha's streets, but green hadn't yet begun returning to the trees surrounding wooded areas. It was still quite cold, though it was getting to the point where one didn't necessarily need full winter garb when venturing outdoors. Today specifically was a perfect day to throw on a coat and go out for a stroll; the wind was mild and the temperature was on the moderately warmer side relative to the otherwise frigid temperatures normal for this time of the year.

For Naruto, it was a perfect day to go out and practice his new jutsu.

" **Okay, just to make certain that I'm understanding this correctly... You've spent all of last week trying to practice your new jutsu; You have thus far been unable to get it to work** _ **one**_ **time. It hasn't worked on solid ground, nor on the construction scaffolding you tried using. Now you want to jump out of a tree?"** Rai stated in a rhetorical manner.

Naruto stepped up to the main entrance to the training field and checked twice to make sure nobody else was here. "Well, yeah, it's a _tree_ jumping exercise. I bet that it didn't work all those other times because I wasn't trying to do it the way the jutsu scroll said to."

Rai squinted and furrowed his brow in bafflement at the boy's logic, **"I seriously doubt that the context of where you perform the exercise has little, if** _ **anything**_ **to do with your rate of success, or lack thereof."**

Naruto blew a raspberry at the fox's reply and slipped a makeshift lockpick into the corresponding key slot on the training field's gate. He deftly clicked the tumblers into place and swung the gate open, tucking away his lockpicks into his coat afterwards. Rai continued to give him grief as he stepped into the training grounds and looked for an adequate tree to suit his needs.

" **I cannot possibly fathom what sort of leap in logic you made in order to arrive at the conclusion that** _ **jumping out of a tree**_ **is magically going to make this jutsu work."** Rai firmly believed that the boy's lack of success was more than likely a result of his stubborn desire to goof off and actively waste time with his "breaks". Though, to be completely fair, the boy put in solid effort in his studies from time to time, if properly motivated (and reminded). As such, Rai elected against going off on that particular tangent.

Naruto shrugged "I dunno, I just wanna figure this jutsu out and that's the only thing I could think of. Besides, I'm not just jumping out of a tree, I'm jumping from one tree to another! That's what the exercise says to do, right?"

Rai would have had all manner of snarky retorts to follow up with in response to Naruto's erroneous logic, under normal circumstances. However, seeing as the boy stood to suffer serious injury if this stunt of his failed, the kitsune opted for empathy and reasoning instead of sarcasm and wit. **"Look, I get that you're excited to perform this new jutsu of yours, but you're getting too far ahead of yourself. You barely know how to channel chakra for one thing; every attempt you've made thus far to activate this jutsu hasn't worked properly, if one could say it worked at all. Why do you insist on skipping steps and leaping forward before you're ready?"**

Naruto eyed over a promising candidate for his tree exercise. He held his hands out and put his thumbs and index fingers together to form a rectangle aimed over the tree in question. "That's exactly why I'm doing this. It's just like how I learned how to do Taijutsu; you do the directions and telling me what I'm doing wrong, and I do the trial and error thing!"

" **Your taijutsu training exercises didn't run the risk of causing you serious injury if you were off by the slightest margin… You'd be better off continuing your studies and training yourself to be more familiar with the motions involved in performing the jutsu before…well,** _ **this.**_ **"**

"Yeah, but that would be boring. _This_ 'll be fun!", Naruto said as he finished surveying his tree. He was about to begin climbing it, but the kitsune continued the conversation.

" **Kid, if you're so dead-set on jumping from trees, could you at least pick one that isn't going to cripple you when you hit the ground?"** Rai said with a good dose of condescension.

Naruto had half a mind to ignore him, but looking up the tree now that he was standing next to it, _maaaaybe_ the big fox had a point. A quick glance around and he spotted a much smaller candidate, "OK, how about that one then?", he said with a hand outstretched to point in its direction.

Rai looked over the image, noting that the tree was still quite large, but at least the kid wouldn't necessarily break his legs in several places when he fell out of it. **"That should be fine…but for the record: I still think this is a-"**

" _Bad idea…_ yeah I know; you think _everything_ is a bad idea, especially when it's something _I_ think is fun."

The kitsune bit back the indignant retort he thought up, huffing in agitation and electing to leave it alone for now. There wasn't anything he could say to that comment that he hadn't already said countless times before. **'** _ **Smartass.'**_

Naruto made his way over and reached out to begin attempting to climb this moderately smaller tree. It was small, if only by Konoha standards: meaning that it was still high enough that you wouldn't want to fall out of it from halfway up, but still short enough that someone like Naruto could safely jump from one of its lower branches without hurting themselves.

He utilized a bit of rope that he'd had on hand to help himself climb up to the first branch, given that the tree didn't have a low enough first branch for him to jump and grab hold of. He tossed one end around the branch and took hold of both ends of rope, giving a tug to ensure it was sturdy. The boy climbed and managed to struggle his way up, with a good amount of effort.

Naruto perched precariously onto the branch, steadying himself and getting to his feet. The blonde looked across to the next tree branch, and his gaze gradually lowered to the ground. Suddenly, he didn't feel so certain about this exercise…

The blonde eyed over the surrounding area and tried to guess the distance between the branch he was perched on, and the branch he was aiming for. Well, he barely knew much of anything about actual measurement, but he knew enough about the visual aspect of trajectory from his many hours of pranks, snowballs and shuriken practice to get a visual of how this might play out.

If this plan of his worked, and the tree exercise panned out, he felt one hundred percent certain he could make this jump. If he didn't make the jump, he would be fine as long as he didn't land on his head or anything.

"I bet this is gonna be the one, I'm gonna do it this time for sure! Just you watch!" Naruto said confidently as he slowly crouched.

" _ **Or**_ **, this ends like every other attempt, only this time you faceplant into the ground at moderate velocity and potentially injure yourself."** Came the kitsune's less than eager response.

Naruto readied himself as best he could, ignoring the big fox's comment. He made what he'd thought to be the "chakra focusing handsign" as was shown in the reading material on chakra. He closed his eyes, struggling to clear his mind…struggling being the emphasized word. Focus was never one of Naruto's strong suits; to him, trying to clear his mind was like trying to clear a street of leaves on a windy day with a broom.

It wasn't his fault though, his mind just always seemed to be wandering at any given time, regardless on if he wanted it to or not.

"C'mon… _c'mon_!" he grumbled aloud after several anxious moments of unsuccessful chakra focusing. "Why isn't this working?!"

" **Well, for starters, you** _ **never**_ **got this to work properly. Second, you've been studying chakra for, what, a few weeks if that? I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if you still can't get this jutsu to work by the end of** _ **next**_ _ **month**_ **, let alone the next few minutes."** , the fox stated, seeing Naruto struggle in much the same manner as he had on all his previous chakra focusing attempts in the weeks prior.

"Not helping, wry-fox!" The boy was undeterred, growling and pressing his hands together again in a new focusing sign in another vain attempt to channel his chakra. "I can't wait that long! _Work_ darnit!" Naruto groaned in agitation and struggled in vain with trying to re-focus his efforts.

Naruto sighed and let his hand rest at his side after another minute passed yielding no results. "I got this to work before, didn't I?" He thought back to the previous times he'd tried focusing his chakra, trying to remember what exactly he was doing in the cases where he got it to work.

He recalled his successful attempts, and tried once more utilizing what worked for him the last time.

After considerable effort was made, he eventually began feeling that familiar wisp of a sensation surrounding him. ' _That's it; just a little more!'_ he said in his mind while he struggled to get his chakra flowing to his legs where he supposedly needed it.

Naruto had done this several times beforehand, using elevated ramps and small platforms he made using leftover lumber. He was familiar enough with what was written in the scroll to be able to recall all the important bits. The boy turned his mind to the tree branch several meters away, trying his best to keep his mind clear and focused on that destination.

He recalled the steps of the exercise and played over them in his head, ' _OK, and now…aim for just above the destination, don't aim_ at _the tree branch…_ '

Naruto took a deep breath, aimed, and leapt with all his might from his current tree branch, dispersing the chakra from his feet as he did so. For a brief moment, he was soaring through the air; the wind flying past his face and making his clothing flap about.

Then the moment passed, and he found himself rapidly descending towards the ground. "Oh-" was all he managed to say before slamming flat into the ground with a hefty _thud_.

* * *

In the treeline nearby, obscured from view, Cat winced and sucked in a breath through her teeth. "Damn, the brat fell like a brick; I bet that hurt."

Her teammate merely hummed in agreement, keeping all of his attention focused on the kid and their immediate surroundings.

"So, do we intervene? I mean, if he keeps at it like that, he could seriously hurt himself with this 'training' of his." She asked.

Fox shook his head, "No, stupidity isn't reason for us to intervene. If he wants to act like a fool, we're obligated to let him. Besides, no one has ever actually died from a tree climbing exercise."

Cat couldn't help but snicker at the choice of words and jokingly commented, "Does that mean we might get to witness a historic moment then?", earning her a look of disapproval from her teammate.

As the two sat there and continued to observe, Fox silently pulled out a pill bottle from one of his vest pouches. Despite his attempt to be sneaky about it, his teammate noticed.

" _Really_ , Fox? Stims, this early in the day?"

The man paid no mind to his teammate's protest as he popped open the bottle and deftly swallowed one of the pills. "Just need a pick-me-up."

His partner wasn't convinced, "No, you need _sleep,_ Fox. The doc said you're putting way too much stress on yourself relying on those stimulants and neglecting sleep as frequently as you've been. Don't even try to lie, I was there when they told you."

"I'm _fine_ Cat, I know what I'm doing. Just do your job so I can do mine." Said the fox masked ANBU as he deftly slid the pill bottle back into his vest pocket.

Cat folded her arms and would have persisted, but there wasn't any point with Fox having that attitude. She kept a close eye on Fox, but was careful to not neglect her actual target, whom was now starting to move again after his heavy fall.

* * *

Naruto had initially found himself unable to move, mostly from the pain, partially from being dazed by the impact…and maybe a little bit of humility. He didn't say anything, he didn't make much of a sound at all. All he could do was lay there for the moment and contemplate what exactly he did wrong.

Well, he knew for certain that the jutsu hadn't activated. After the many failed attempts to activate this jutsu leading up to this point, this wasn't anything new to him. The only difference was that he'd never faceplanted like this before, which _really_ hurt.

Naruto found himself able to move again, but the distinct pain in his chest warned him against moving too quickly; a pain that seemingly waxed and waned with every breath. This all made it very clear to him that Rai might have had a point after all.

He slowly rolled over to his side and took a few careful breaths, struggling to not agitate the pain in his chest if at all possible. It was at this point that he noticed the rest of his body shared various aches and pains that gradually made themselves more apparent. A light moan left his mouth as he tried to form words; Naruto considered taking the big fox's advice on this and either not jumping out of a tree again…or finding a much smaller tree to jump from.

" **I'd say something along the lines of 'I told you so', but that seems a little redundant right now, don't you think?"**

The boy did his best to ignore Rai's snarky remark and focused on getting to his feet.

He hoisted himself up as gently as possible, rising from the ground and pausing to examine the spot where he landed. There was a definitive imprint left in the grass, but no indentation in the ground like what he'd see in his comics. That last part left him mildly disappointed, but nothing matching anywhere close to the sting of both failing his jutsu attempt and faceplanting like he did.

Naruto waited for his chest to stop hurting, and after a few minutes it did (or he simply got used to what pain remained). From there, it took a little while, but the rest of him ceased being in pain just enough for him to feel comfortable moving around freely.

" **You okay?"** Came the fox's token voice of concern.

"Ow" was the only thing said in response.

Rai didn't hesitate to voice his commentary, **"So, do you still think it's a good idea to perform this stunt of yours from these trees?"**

"The exercise says I have to jump from one tree branch to another tree branch!" Came the boy's stubborn response, though he winced from a last bit of residual pain.

The Kitsune didn't find the brat's stubborn attitude amusing in the slightest. **"First of all, that's** _ **not**_ **the exercise that the scroll suggests you start with at your current skill level. Second, you just fell several feet from a tree and hit the ground hard enough that you couldn't move for a significant amount of time."**

In the brief moment Rai paused, Naruto attempted to voice his response, but the fox shut him down by continuing. **"Do you seriously mean to tell me you want to climb back up to that tree limb and jump again? Are you really that stubborn, or are you just foolish? Perhaps you're both!"**

Naruto looked to the ground and back up to the tree branch he'd just fallen from, his hands making fists. Without saying a word, he went and collected his rope, then briefly looked around the training site to see if he could find a tree branch that was any lower off the ground. The boy spent a good minute doing so.

Failing to find such a suitable tree, he hung his head in defeat. "…No, I'm not."

" **Good, you were lucky that getting the wind knocked out of you was the** _ **only**_ **negative outcome you suffered from that fall."** Rai pointed out matter-of-factly.

Naruto didn't respond, he simply plopped onto the ground and took out a copy of cliffnotes he'd made for his agility jutsu and looked over them. Maybe there was something he was missing? He was almost certain that he was doing everything exactly like how he'd been trying to do it in the days prior.

Rai decided to try and get into a reclined position, using his tails as supports, then he got to thinking. A moderate amount of thought went to the kid, contemplating the erroneous logic of literally using trees to test out a mobility jutsu when _any other_ elevated position would better suit the needs outlined in the exercises.

Although it may have been amusing to see the kid continue to fail spectacularly doing things the hard way, it wasn't in the kitsune's best interest to let Naruto continue to risk injuring himself so needlessly. The brat didn't _need_ to jump out of a tree to get the jutsu to work, he just needed to _focus_. No easy feat, Rai understood that, but…

The fox mused. _**'I can't get Naruto to focus on his own, especially not with this damned tree exercise holding the kid's attention. Actually, come to think of it, that gives me an Idea that might allow him to practice this asinine exercise without risking injuring himself.'**_

The kitsune hummed in affirmation of the idea forming in his head, quite pleased with himself, then turned his attention to the boy directly. **"Naruto, what if you tried leaping from the ground** _ **to**_ **the tree branch, instead of starting from the branch? That way, you'd still technically be doing a** _ **tree exercise**_ **, minus the 'falling out of the tree' part when you fail."**

This managed to immediately grab Naruto's attention. "You think that'd work?"

Rai noted the kid's response and continued, further selling the idea to him. **"Well, like I said, it'd still be exercising using the trees. The main difference is that you wouldn't have to worry so much about injuring yourself. If you do manage to get it to work and land on the tree limb, you can hop down and try again until you get a consistent rate of success. From there, you're geared up to move onto the second aspect of the training and leap to the nearby branch of the next tree. If you miss the tree branch going up in this method, you can grab the trunk and keep from falling."**

Naruto gave a cheerful laugh and clutched his fists together excitedly, "That's perfect! Why didn't _I_ think of that?"

" **Because you took this exercise far too literally?"** Rai added with a dash of sarcasm. He was still rather irked by the brat's insistence on pursuing this interpretation of what the jutsu scroll was teaching him, but at least the kid was being somewhat reasonable (now that he'd had some sense knocked into him).

The blonde missed the witty retort entirely, or he chose to ignore it in light of his jutsu training; either way, he was already in motion to try out the method Rai suggested.

Naruto struggled to clear his mind, fought to focus on the task at hand and draw upon his chakra.

"Ok, here goes…", the blonde readied himself, crouching into a jumping stance and sending his chakra to where he needed it to be.

He spent the next hour repeatedly leaping at that tree, aiming himself at the branches large enough to support his weight (not that he had any means of reliably determining that). In many of the attempts, he found himself either stumbling and falling on landing, or flat-out faceplanting into the ground. Naruto persisted, dusting himself off after every failed attempt and gearing himself up to try again.

Rai yawned and rested his head on his forearms as he laid back and observed the many failed attempts mustered by Naruto. It was amusing to watch, now that he didn't have to worry so much about the brat injuring himself.

The kitsune had to admit, seeing Naruto refuse to give up despite this consistent rate of failure was always…reassuring, despite occasionally being an annoyance.

As if on queue, "Rai, it's not working! I keep focusing my chakra, but it doesn't do anything, _dattebayo!_ " Naruto said with obvious frustration in his voice after his latest attempt failed.

 **' _And there it is..._ ' **Rai had formulated a vague idea of what the kid was doing wrong as a means of occupying his time, ever since Naruto had started practicing this jutsu weeks prior. He'd chosen to withhold the information in the hopes that Naruto would figure it out on his own. Still…he could at least give the boy a nudge in the right direction. **"Are you focusing your chakra into your legs, or are you just pooling it into your feet?"** The kitsune lazily offered.

Naruto looked momentarily baffled by this, "I…what? Yeah, I'm putting it into my feet so that it pushes me up when I jump, why?" confirming Rai's suspicions in the process.

The kitsune lightly facepalmed, **"Naruto, do you just use your feet when you jump?"**

"Maybe, I dunno? What does that have to do with anything?"

Rai snorted and rolled his eyes at the brat's ignorance, reminding himself (for the millionth time) that he was talking to a seven-year-old. **"Kid, you're not using the chakra as** _ **propulsion**_ **, you're supposed to be enhancing your muscles."**

The blonde hopped in on the Fox's prison and tilted his head at the kitsune in confusion, "I don't understand, I'm supposed to be gathering up chakra for this, right? If I'm not pushing myself with chakra…then why-"

" **You're thinking too far inside the box on this one. Or…not inside the box enough...?"** Rai said with a hint of agitation, **"Think of how you jump normally,** _ **without**_ **chakra. What do you do with your body when you want to jump?"**

Naruto squinted his eyes and thought about it, trying to understand, "I… dunno how to explain. I guess It'd be kinda like coiling up a spring and then releasing it?"

The fox nodded, **"A close enough analogy."**

"But why?" The boy said, trying to figure out what the big fox was getting at.

Rai made gestures with his hands for Naruto to keep going with the thought process.

"What, am I supposed to be making the spring bigger and stronger, or-", his eyes widened and hung his head back with his mouth lightly agape. The realization hit Naruto and he begun to understand why he hadn't gotten the jutsu to work, not even once. He spoke a drawn out, "Oohhhhh", as that last essential piece of the puzzle fell into place.

Rai allowed himself to smile ever so lightly as he watched the kid figure it out on his own from there. **'** _ **Now that wasn't so hard, was it?'**_ he thought to himself.

The boy looked over the cliffnotes, shaking his head and unceremoniously stuffed the paper into his tool pouch. He then turned his attention back to Rai and pointed an accusatory finger at the big fox, "Hey, if you knew I was doing it wrong this whole time, why didn't you say anything earlier?"

The big fox pointed right back at the blonde and stood his ground, **"Because I'm not doing your work** _ **for**_ **you, brat…** _ **remember**_ **?"** In his mind, however, the kitsune was reprimanding himself for being careless. He'd underestimated the kid's attention to detail yet again and got called out on it, _again_.

Naruto squinted with an incredulous expression at the kitsune's response. He didn't like that Rai kept acting like this, but he guessed the big dumb fox had his reasons. At least now he knew why his jutsu kept failing, that's what was important.

Naruto folded his arms and turned away from the fox, re-applying his attention to his objective, "OK, now I know what I've been doing wrong, let's try it the 'right' way."

Once back outside the prison and standing before the tree, Naruto readied himself and went through the motions of performing the jutsu again. This time, he let his chakra focus itself into his legs…though he didn't feel anything all that different. Still, he went along with it anyway, and proceeded to leap at the tree.

Just like the last time, he couldn't get the jutsu to activate. _However_ , what was noticeably different in this attempt compared to the previous ones was the ease of which he was able to aim the jump. That much was new; normally he'd have had a tough time avoiding toppling over…or falling on his face due to the angle of which he'd land.

Naruto chalked that up to being progress, which emboldened him to press on. He continued his practice, aiming himself, focusing his chakra, and leaping towards the tree branches. Each time, he failed to achieve the desired result, but he also found himself avoiding the usual falls that were common in his earlier attempts.

" **See? Now you're getting somewhere."** The fox commented

"Yeah, thanks Rai!" It wasn't exactly what Naruto wanted or expected, but he was willing to continue trying; what was the worst that could happen?

Naruto crouched, and then leaped once again, this time aiming for a little higher up the tree and adding a little more chakra into his attempt. It was in that moment that he very quickly found out exactly what that worst thing could be…as he found himself shooting off the ground at high velocity.

The last thing Naruto remembered was a loud "crack" and everything going black.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes, and two things made themselves apparent. First: he was laying on his back, in the dirt, just below the tree he'd been aiming for. Second: his face _really_ hurt, specifically his nose, forehead and mouth.

He saw a splotch of red on the tree a few feet up, a bit lower than he remembered aiming for, and a sizeable dent in the bark with some of said bark being chipped off in places. Sitting up and looking around, he could see footprints left in the ground with bits of dirt and grass kicked up around them.

Naruto lifted a hand and felt on his face where it hurt the most, finding that there was a crusted something covering just under his nose. "Wud da heg?", was the first thing to come out of his mouth…followed by an outraged, "OH CUB ODD!" A bloodied nose, _great_.

He picked himself up off the ground and blew his nose on the end of his sleeve. From there, he proceeded to dust himself off and try to piece things together.

Naruto wouldn't have to piece much of anything together though, as it soon turned out.

" **Oh good, you're awake."** The voice of the big fox rang out in Naruto's head.

"Awage?" the boy said aloud, "Wud happend?" He scrunched up his face in mild agitation of his nose still being a bit clogged.

" **Would you like the good news first, or the bad news?"**

Naruto blew his nose again and visited the fox in his prison, "Uhh, good news first, I guess?"

Rai nodded and complied, **"The good news is: I believe you actually managed to get that jutsu of yours to work."**

Hearing that, the boy immediately fist pumped and let out a gleeful, " _Yatta!_ "

" **The bad news is: you still need to work on it, because you catapulted yourself face-first into a tree. You hit your head so hard that it wound up knocking you out for roughly…I'd say a half hour, give or take. An impressive feat, given how hardheaded you are."**

"Oh... well, that explains why I had a bloody nose…and why my face hurt so much." He admitted sheepishly. In not so sheepish fashion, he lightly fist-pumped again and declared, "Hey, it worked though; I finally got the jutsu to work! That still counts! It counts, right?" Naruto seemed to be taking the whole _knocking himself out_ thing in stride.

The kitsune couldn't help but chuckle at the kid's unwavering enthusiasm, even after nearly cracking his head open on a tree trunk. **"Yes, it still counts. Even though you inadvertently found out what it was like to have your nose visit your brain, you successfully performed your first jutsu, congratulations."**

Having Rai confirm his success, Naruto jumped in place and threw his fist into the air. "YES! Step one of becoming a shinobi, completed!" Though he abruptly stopped upon catching the fox's not so subtle joke at his expense.

"Hey, that's not funny!", he said, though he found himself recalling how his voice sounded while his nose was clogged and admitting that maaaybe it was a _little_ funny. It was definitely funnier when he wasn't the one on the receiving end of the nose bloodying, but most funny things were like that.

Rai grinned and rested his head on his forearms. Naruto wasn't finished with this jutsu, not by a long shot, and the kid still had a lot of work ahead of him before he could really say he'd completed his first step. Under the current circumstances, the kitsune elected to keep that detail to himself and let Naruto have this small victory. It'd help fuel the kid's motivation, which was a plus in his book.

Besides, the kid _did_ perform the jutsu, and it was a pleasant surprise that Naruto had effectively proved him wrong in how long it took him to do so. However, he did still injure himself despite the kitsunes attempt to mitigate that. A bothersome detail, but it didn't stop the fox from seeing the positive in this.

Rai had no doubt that Naruto would be able to consistently use this jutsu in no time. Well, assuming he didn't get bored of it and decide to procrastinate from his training with breaks or pranks, or branch off into some other area of study altogether.

Naruto quickly exited the fox's prison and wasted no time in getting right back to practicing his new jutsu, though it would take several attempts before he was able to activate it again.

* * *

Within the shrubbery a short distance away, Cat was shaking her head and muttered, "Kid's putting _way_ too much chakra into that jutsu… Yeesh, he must have an absurd amount of chakra to keep going at it like that."

Next to her, Fox's attention was drawn to the training ground entrance. "Eyes up, we have company."

Cat immediately activated her Dojutsu and looked in the region around the main entrance. "It's just a kid, chakra coils confirm it."

"Affirmative, let's keep tabs on him just in case."

* * *

Naruto tilted his head and looked off into the distance. "Rai, did you hear someone shouting just now?"

" **I wasn't listening, why?"**

"…Nevermind, I guess I'm just hearing things."

Rai still checked with his Sensor Map, just to be sure. He felt the familiar presence of that Cat masked shinobi woman, as well as the troublesome fool that usually accompanied her. The kitsune elected to not bring this to Naruto's attention, as they'd long since proven to not be a threat… and it might hamper the boy's efforts if he knew he had an audience.

However, there was also a new presence, very faint, but not one of fear or anger. It was just outside the training area and slowly approaching the entrance.

Naruto struggled and eventually managed to replicate the jutsu after a few more attempts. This time sent him shooting off just like last time, though, lucky for him, he'd braced himself in case such an event happened. Now, instead of colliding headfirst into the tree, his forearms took the brunt of the impact.

The boy gritted his teeth from the pain as he sat there in the grass just below the impact point. He tenderly rubbed the scrapes and scuffs that now covered both of his forearm sleeves from where they met the tree bark at high velocity. Judging by the marks on his sleeves, he probably bruised his arms or something; nothing serious, but still painful.

Same as last time, there were footprints and clumps of dirt and grass scattered around them from where he made the jump. Instead of a splotch of red, there were busted patches of bark on the tree in a shape vaguely indicating where his arms had hit.

"Yeesh, jutsu training _hurts_." The boy muttered to himself.

" **If it makes you feel any better, you successfully pulled off activating that mobility jutsu twice now."** The kitsune stated in a half-joking manner.

Naruto grinned at that, missing the sarcasm and taking it literally. "Heh, yeah, that does make me feel better! Thanks!"

The kitsune rolled his eyes, but remained silent after that. Sure enough, the boy rose to his feet and readied himself to try again, just as the fox had come to expect of him.

Rai noted that this turn of events didn't necessarily make _himself_ feel any better. He hadn't counted on the kid actually succeeding in pulling off the jutsu when he'd originally suggested for Naruto to jump _at_ the tree instead of _from_ the tree. All he was trying to do was to keep the kid from suffering unnecessary injury. Now here it was, Naruto was successfully activating the jutsu…and hurting himself and putting himself at unnecessary risk of injury in the process of utilizing Rai's idea.

The irony in this was not lost on him, it was quite irritating.

Naruto, on the other hand, was blissfully unaware of such irony, and he was far more concerned with his jutsu training to care even if he knew in the first place. His arms still hurt, but that wasn't going to stop him. He aimed a little better this time, focused, and leapt; this time he managed to activate the jutsu on his first attempt.

Naruto effortlessly flew through the air and…straight past the tree limb he was aiming for. Tree branches whipped past him as he soared higher than he intended.

' _Oh crap!_ ' rang through his mind, and he immediately flailed his arms around in an attempt to grab any nearby branches. Surprisingly enough, his flailing managed to snag his sleeve on a broken branch, tearing into the fabric and catching him midair. He grunted as he impacted lightly off of the neighboring tree branches, but aside from that, he came out of it unharmed.

The stinging pain that made itself known in his arm and the trickle of warmth that followed quickly corrected that first assessment. Naruto lightly swore under his breath, eyeing over the tear in his coat and trying to assess the damage. The coat had cost him a large chunk of Ryo, and now he was gonna have to either fix it himself or replace it.

Investigating further, Naruto found that he had a moderate gash in his arm where the broken branch must have scraped across. It didn't look serious, but it definitely hurt; he'd have to take care of it once he was out of this situation.

"Darn it, and I _liked_ this coat too!"

" **It could be worse."**

The boy tried to swing himself free; failing that, he gripped at the branch and tried to use leverage to shimmy himself off of the broken branch, to no avail. "Worse? How could this be any worse?"

Rai casually remarked, **"You could have hit your head and blacked out; or you could have impaled your arm.** _ **Or**_ **, you could have missed the tree entirely and ended up hitting the ground at high velocity…probably breaking all of your bones and/or paralyzing yourself in the process. Just to name a few things."**

Naruto wasn't amused. "Oh ha- _ha,_ very funny…"He said with obvious sarcasm, then looked around for a means of hoisting himself up and off of the broken branch.

Rai slowly shook his head and lightly huffed, having not necessarily intended for his previous comment to have been seen as a joke.

Unfortunately for Naruto, the branch he'd snagged himself on happened to be of moderate length, meaning he couldn't just slide his sleeve off the branch by himself. He couldn't break the branch off either, due to its width. If he just had something he could use to cut this loose, or-

Naruto mentally facepalmed, ' _Duh! Ninja tools!'_

He reached for where his tool pouch was and felt around inside. From there he did a literal facepalm, "Ah _dang it_! I forgot those were taken away!" Now he found himself regretting not going out and trying to find replacement ninja tools.

Well, he _did_ go out and try to find replacement ninja tools…once or twice, but he wasn't able to find any usable tools in those attempts. He should have searched again, or maybe taken the messed up ones that Rai said weren't usable…but he didn't, and that was coming back to bite him in the butt, big time. ' _Okay, next time, no procrestin…procraton… procrash….ugh. No fooling around, I gotta find new ninja tools! Err, after I get outa this tree first. Stupid tree…'_

"Whose dumb idea was it to exercise using trees anyway?" Naruto complained aloud.

Rai didn't pass up the opportunity, **"Yours."**

"Not funny! Besides, the scrolls said to do it!" Naruto shot back. He continued to struggle against the tree branch for the next several minutes, but nothing he tried got him any closer to freedom.

He supposed he could tear himself free from the snag, but in order to avoid falling to the ground, he'd have to sacrifice his sleeve almost entirely. Given how it was placed, and where the branch snagged him and tore into his sleeve, it'd rip a line clean down the arm of his coat. He could probably patch a hole, but not a whole torn sleeve.

Naruto hated the thought of having to destroy his only winter coat…and the huge hit to his funds that'd leave trying to replace it. He'd probably have to go without eating for several meals in order to save up enough, that was gonna suck.

After a good ten minutes passed with Naruto failing to free himself from his predicament, he heard a voice from nearby, off to his right.

"Nii-san, are you in here? The gate was unlocked." Judging by their voice, the individual Naruto could hear sounded like a boy somewhere near his own age.

He glanced over to see who it belonged to, but the tree branches obscured his view. Still, if he could hear them, maybe they could hear him. "Hey, over here!" he said in a decently loud voice.

There wasn't any reply, but it wasn't long before the person came into view below him. As far as Naruto could tell from looking at them, it was confirmed that they were a boy roughly his own age. He wore the usual winter garb as everyone else, but Naruto noticed he also had a toolpouch on his belt, similar to his own (albeit much higher quality.)

"Oh, you're not- err, what are you doing up there? Are you okay?" The kid asked.

Naruto motioned to the branch that currently stuck out from his coat sleeve, "No, I'm kinda…stuck up here."

"Yeah, I can see that. Hang tight, I'm coming up!" Came the kid's response.

Naruto watched as the kid reached into his tool pouch and pulled a pair of what looked like an array of small metal hooks attached to hand straps. He slipped the straps over his hands and fastened them so that the array of hooks were at a downward angle, then jumped at the side of the tree. Surprisingly, the boy stuck to the sides of the tree quite easily, utilizing the claws to begin climbing.

He made it look easy, grabbing into the tree with those claws and pulling himself up one grasp at a time until he reached the height Naruto was stuck at. The kid perched on the nearest branch and removed one of the hand claws, keeping the other and holding tight to the tree with it.

Now that he was near enough to do so, the kid eyed over the scene and took in the details. Naruto, on the other hand, was momentarily forgetting the fact that he was in a tree and ogling the claw thingy still attached to the kid's one hand.

"What the heck _are_ those?" Naruto asked, momentarily forgetting the fact that he was trapped high in a tree.

The kid was taken aback by the odd question, "Uhh… wh- Oh, these? They're Shuko."

Naruto would have gone off on tangent about what a Shuko was, but Rai reprimanded him. **"Brat, you're stuck in a tree, remember? You can worry about that kid's tools once you're back on solid ground."**

Before Naruto could say anything, the kid jumped to a closer perch next to him. He then reached into his tool pouch and pulled out a small round paddle looking thing with jagged edges all along the sides.

"What's _that_ thing?" Naruto asked, once again ignoring the fact that he was still hanging precariously from high up in a tree by his coat sleeve.

The kid did a double take and looked at Naruto like he was stupid, "It's…a saw. Haven't you ever seen a saw before?"

Already knowing what a saw was, Naruto jumped to the next question on his mind, "How's a saw gonna help? Saws can't cut through cloth too well."

Rai lightly hit his head against the bars of his cage in exasperated fashion.

The boy blinked several times before gesturing to the branch, "I'm not gonna cut your coat, dummy, I'm gonna saw off the end of the branch you're stuck on."

Naruto quickly realized what the kid had in mind, "Ohh, you're gonna saw that end off so it'll be short enough for me to slide my sleeve out! I gotcha, that makes a lot more sense."

The kid shook his head at the blonde's antics and then got to work sawing at the end of the broken branch. Naruto couldn't do much else but watch him work and hold tight.

"So…what were you doing up here anyway?" The kid eventually asked, making a steady, but slow progress with his saw.

Naruto was caught off guard with the sudden question. "Huh?"

The boy momentarily stopped sawing, "How'd you get stuck up here like this? What were you doing?" He then resumed his work promptly after.

"Oh, I was practicing a jutsu!" Naruto eagerly replied.

"A jutsu? Cool, so you're training to become a shinobi too, huh?"

Naruto nodded in affirmation, "Yup! I'm gonna be the best shinobi Konoha has ever seen!"

The kid hummed with a grin in response, then asked, "What kinda jutsu were you trying to do that got you stuck all the way up here in a tree?"

"Mobility jutsu."

The saw had cut just about all the way through the branch by now, so the kid put his saw away and braced himself. "Hold on." He then thrust his leg out and kicked the end of the branch, breaking it off the rest of the way.

"Here, take my hand, I'll help pull you." The boy offered with his free hand extended. Naruto didn't hesitate to take his hand, and the two of them worked to get Naruto's sleeve free from the shortened branch.

After a few minutes of careful shimmying, they successfully got Naruto's sleeve free, and Naruto clutched the nearby tree limbs to pull himself the rest of the way to safety. "Thanks! I thought I was gonna have to rip up my coat to get out of there."

"Well, it looks like you're still gonna have to fix it…but…" the kid began.

Naruto waved it off with a smile, "Better than being completely ruined!"

The two sat there in the tree for a moment, before the kid finally asked, "So, what's your name anyway?"

"The name's Naruto Uzumaki!" came the blonde's cheerful declaration.

The kid offered a light smile in return, then extended his hand in a friendly gesture. "Sasuke Uchiha."

Naruto reached out in kind, and the two shook hands.

A few minutes later, the duo finished climbing their way down the side of the tree and back to solid ground. Naruto immediately looked to his arm to check on the cut he'd sustained, but was surprised to see that there was no trace of him ever having gotten it in the first place.

"What's the matter?" Sasuke asked after seeing Naruto's reaction.

Naruto let his arm back down to his side and casually said, "I thought I got cut earlier…but there's nothing there now."

Sasuke tilted his head ever so slightly, but then offered what he thought was a plausible explanation. "Maybe it was just a surface cut? You know, where you get cut and it looks like it bleeds a lot, but it's actually really small and heals quick?"

Naruto shrugged and went along with it, but he and Rai their own explanation for it (though neither's own explanation necessarily matched the others). "I guess that makes sense…"

He was quite grateful that this Sasuke guy came along when he did, and pretty lucky too. But that raised a point: Naruto had told Sasuke what _he'd_ been doing here, but Naruto had no idea what Sasuke was doing here. He vaguely recalled hearing Sasuke calling someone's name, but that was about it. "Oh, hey, Sasuke?"

"Yeah?"

"Who's this Nisan person you're looking for?"

Sasuke blinked and had a baffled expression for a moment, "Uhh…my brother; he told me he'd meet me here." He then gestured in the direction of the training field gates. "The entrance was unlocked and left open, so I thought he was here already…"

Naruto failed to notice the expression forming on Sasuke's face, and decided to continue with his questions. "So your brother's name is Nisan? What kind of a name is that?"

The baffled look returned, "What? That…that isn't my brother's name, what the heck are you talking about?"

"Well, you were saying that earlier when you came in here looking for him. You were saying, 'Nisan, are you in here', ya know?" Naruto reiterated, only to bring Sasuke to change his baffled look to one of a mix between amusement and confusion.

Rai avoided judging Naruto too harshly, as he knew full well that the boy hadn't yet learned much in terms of "traditional". It wasn't the kid's fault he didn't know that the word wasn't a name, but an honorific. The kitsune was about to explain such to Naruto, but the Uchiha kid beat him to it.

"That's not…do you know Traditional?" Sasuke asked with a quizzical look.

Naruto scratched his head, not knowing where he was going with this. "Not a lot, why?"

Sasuke nodded, understanding the confusion. "I wasn't saying Nisan, I was saying Nii-san. It's a traditional term for 'older brother', or something like that."

"Oh", was all Naruto said initially in response, until he started piecing things together. Then he let out a more lengthy and audible, "Oohhhh, I get it! You're from one of those Ninja clans aren't you?"

Sasuke grinned and nodded, "Yep! I'm from the Uchiha clan, one of-" Though his expression quickly went south and he leaned away as Naruto had suddenly begun intruding on his personal space and squinting at him. "Wh-what the heck are you _doing_?" He said, raising a hand to keep Naruto at arm's length.

Rai didn't hesitate to voice his displeasure, **"Naruto,** _ **really**_ **?"** The kitsune recalled the other times Naruto did this, and a thought crossed his mind, a thought he vocalized. **"…Are you going to do this** _ **every**_ **time you meet someone from a shinobi clan?"**

Naruto quickly realized what he was doing and moved away, giving a sheepish smile and rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry! I uh, I was just wondering if you had those cool eye thingies like some other clans do."

It took a moment for Sasuke to get over how uncomfortable Naruto had just made him in staring into his eyes like that. "Eye…things?"

"Yeah, I met this one guy from a ninja clan and he had slits for eyes. Then there was this other time when I met a girl from a ninja clan, she had pretty white eyes without the little black dot in the center!"

Sasuke shook his head, "I- err, I don't… _think_ so? Just…don't do that again, ok? That's _really_ creepy, and weird."

"Sorry, I forget personal space sometimes." Naruto said, giving a nervous smile.

" **Kid, you have no** _ **concept**_ **of personal space."** The kitsune was quick to comment.

Naruto ignored this and turned his attention back to the other question at hand, "So…what _is_ your brother's name?"

"His name's Itachi; he's an awesome shinobi, one of the greatest! Itachi said he was gonna meet me here so he could train me some more. I don't have much time left to practice 'till the academy starts, and I wanna have a head start and be just as amazing as my brother was!" Sasuke finished with a fist pump.

Rai saw an opportunity to potentially help Naruto hone his skills, if only temporarily. If this Uchiha kid was also training to become a shinobi, it could go a long way in helping streamline this whole process of Naruto's ninja training if Naruto had a companion that could make tangible progress with him. As much as he didn't like the idea of relying on another kid to get to his end goal, the possibilities and potential positives made up for that.

Well, actually, much of that "potential" was made irrelevant in the face of the fact that Naruto was still treated like an outcast. If this Uchiha kid was from a major clan, it was highly likely that he'd reject Naruto just the same as everyone else.

 _However_ , given that the Uchiha kid hadn't immediately turned tail and left upon learning Naruto's identity (or engaging in the usual unpleasantry), _maybe_ there was a chance he might stick around. If he stuck around long enough, some of the short term benefits would still be quite possible.

He didn't see any significant negatives to having this Uchiha brat around, assuming he stuck around, so Rai made up his mind and decided to pass along a suggestion to Naruto.

" **Naruto, why don't you-"** the fox began, but for a change of pace, Naruto seemed to be ahead of him on this one.

"Hey, Sasuke, you wanna practice ninjutsu with me?" Naruto blurted out.

Rai rolled his eyes and lightly huffed at how his intended suggestion was made redundant. **'** _ **Well, the kid's got the right idea at least. I can't fault him for that.'**_

Not only was Sasuke taken aback by the sudden suggestion, but he also seemed hesitant to the idea. He let his mouth hang lightly agape and looked back in the direction of the entrance of the training grounds, as if hoping his brother might suddenly show up at any moment.

Naruto doubled down, "C'mon, it'll be fun!"

Sasuke eventually sighed and conceded, "…alright. I _guess_ it'd be cool to have someone close to my level to practice with. Sure, we'll practice together, at least 'till my brother gets here."

Naruto clapped his hands together with a smile on his face, "Awesome!"

"What are you working on anyway?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto pointed his thumb towards the tree and said, "I'm trying the tree jumping exercise! So far, I've managed to get the jutsu to work three whole times! But…I kinda also keep hurting myself."

Sasuke nodded, "The mobility jutsu, I'm working on that one myself. It supposedly gets easier the more you manage to activate a jutsu…at least, that's what Itachi told me. I've been more focused on the first half of the mobility jutsu, practicing with regular movement on the ground level, so I haven't tried the tree exercise yet."

The blonde didn't hesitate and jumped at the opportunity to show off. "Well in that case, lemme show you what I can do!"

"Heh, sure, let's see it."

Naruto took the stance in front of the tree, bringing his hands together in the proper hand sign. He focused his chakra and aimed, making sure he had a decent trajectory this time, then took a deep breath.

It took a few tries, but once again the boy was able to get the jutsu to activate. He leaped at the outer tree branch at moderate velocity, holding his hands out in case he missed this time. Unfortunately, missing the tree branch was _not_ something he should have been worrying about.

No, he was completely on target, just not in the manner he wanted.

Naruto once again found himself having the wind knocked out of him as the tree branch hit him square in the belly, making him double over and around the tree limb. He didn't have the time even to emit a proper noise to describe how much that hurt, as him starting to slide off the branch triggered a panicked response. He wrapped himself around the branch and steadied his perch the best he could… _then_ proceeded to make noises alluding to the pain he felt.

"Wow…you okay up there Naruto?"

Naruto reached to the side and gave a thumbs-up in response.

Sasuke folded his arms as he replied in a joking manner, "Well, at least you didn't break the tree branch!"

Rai chuckled aloud and said, **"I like this kid's sense of humor."**

"Of course you do..." Naruto weakly commented back to the fox.

* * *

A few minutes later, Naruto was back on solid ground again and trying his best to walk Sasuke through how he got the jutsu to work…leaving out the parts concerning Rai's involvement, per the kitsune's reminder.

Sasuke took in the… _helpful_ descriptions of the steps the blonde took in activating the jutsu, trying to gain whatever information he could from what was available. The fact that Naruto was able to figure all this out on his own without any help was impressive to him and kept him from judging Naruto's questionable methods and poor descriptions too harshly.

When Sasuke thought about it, that roused his curiosity with a few questions. He addressed the easiest one first, "You know, kids aren't allowed in here unsupervised. How'd you get in here anyway? Was the gate unlocked when you got here too?"

Naruto smirked and took out his lockpicks to show them off. "I'm good at getting into places people don't want me to be. Sometimes I get in trouble, but most of the time I get away with it."

" **Vice versa,"** the kitsune corrected.

Sasuke eyed over the lockpicks with disbelief. "But, aren't your parents gonna be mad that you're out here practicing jutsu by yourself in a shinobi training field? I mean, not to mention the fact that you're breaking into places…"

Naruto blinked at the statement, and unceremoniously answered as if ignorant to the weight of what he replied with. "I don't have any parents."

"You don't- …oh…" Sasuke quickly looked away and rubbed his upper arm as the awkward self-consciousness set in. "You don't…have a brother or anything? Friends?" He ventured to ask, but Naruto shaking his head in response made it even more awkward for him.

After that, there was a brief minute or two of silence between the two of them. Not wanting to waste any more time, Naruto forced a smile on his face and waved it off as if the whole situation were nothing. "Hey, don't worry about it. Besides, I have a giant fox inside my head that keeps me company!", the blonde said in a fairly cheerful manner.

Sasuke made a face and snorted, "A giant fox in your head? Really?" He tried not to laugh at that, but he ended up laughing anyway once Naruto egged him on with his own laughter. Sasuke and Naruto both had a decent, albeit short-lived laugh, and the bulk of the awkwardness passed.

Rai noted that while Naruto may have given an outwardly cheerful response, the distinct depth of the presence he left in Rai's Sensor Map very clearly painted a different picture. There were more important things to worry about though, so he left it alone for now.

The kitsune would have reprimanded Naruto for so foolishly mentioning his existence, but he ultimately decided against it seeing how things turned out in the end. He supposed it _was_ a clever icebreaker, but he made note to remind Naruto to take care in what he said in the future, just to be safe.

The last thing they needed was someone taking it literally, or worse.

"Well, how 'bout we stop fooling around and get started practicing then?" Naruto stated with a mild tone of impatience in his voice, but also with a lighthearted smile on his face. Before Sasuke could respond, Naruto was already getting into position and readying himself to perform a jump.

Rai couldn't help but laugh out loud at that; it simultaneously irked and amused the kitsune.

Naruto wasn't sure why the fox was laughing. Did he miss a joke? If the big fox was laughing at it, he probably wouldn't have found it funny himself; the fox's sense humor was weird sometimes. Still, he was curious enough about it to pop in on Rai's prison and ask, "What's so funny?"

" **You, but more specifically the double standards. I have to constantly remind you to get you to spend any consistent amount of time practicing, and you keep wasting time doing trivial things… Here it is, this random kid comes around that you can practice jutsu with, you suddenly jump to your feet and act like there's no time to lose and you get serious about it."**

The blonde folded his arms and looked a mix between indignant and confused, "….Well, yeah, but what's _funny_ about that?"

Rai shrugged, **"Its less** _ **funny**_ **, and more 'amusing', really."**

"That still doesn't make any sense!"

The big fox rolled his eyes, **"It usually doesn't with you."**

" _Hey!_ I'm not _stupid_ wry-fox, _dattebayo_! It's not my fault you keep making things all complicated and stuff when they don't have to be!" Naruto shot back, clearly offended by the implications left by Rai's previous statement.

Rai gave an amused huff before reiterating, **"I didn't say you were stupid, brat; all I said was that things don't often make sense to you."**

Naruto folded his arms and spoke with a slightly resentful tone, "Yeah? Well it _sounds_ like you're calling me stupid."

" **Well,** _ **I'm not**_ **, so you can stop with the indignant attitude!"** Rai said with a hint of indignation himself.

Instead of complying, or voicing a retort, Naruto stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry at the fox.

In a moment of lapsed judgement, the kitsune furrowed his brow and stuck his own tongue out and blew a raspberry right back at the blonde.

Naruto recoiled, wide eyed and quite surprised at the big fox's response.

Suddenly becoming self-conscious of what he was doing, Rai quickly sucked his tongue back into his mouth and tried to pretend like that hadn't just happened. Despite his efforts, the blonde burst into laughter.

The thought of just how ridiculous that interaction was eventually got to Rai as well, and he couldn't help but join Naruto in a light bout of laughter himself. He softly shook his head and composed himself shortly after.

Naruto smiled up at the fox and said, "See? You don't have to be allergic to fun _all_ the time!"

Rai casually waved his hand in a "shoo" gesture and said, **"Yeah, yeah… go on and get to your training, kiddo."**

Once back in reality, Naruto glanced around to re-establish where he'd left off, then continued with the tree exercise.

Sasuke soon joined Naruto, observing how he performed the jutsu for a good few minutes before attempting it himself. He equipped his Shuko and readied himself for his own jump.

Naruto had gone several jumps now, none of which ending in success, but also not the spectacular failures he'd had earlier either. He was close to nailing it down, and in his next jump, he actually managed to land both feet on the branch….before losing his balance almost immediately and having to fall back to the ground.

When Naruto turned to see what Sasuke was up to, the boy was missing. He heard a simultaneous "oof" and a thump, followed by the rattle of tree branches. Glacing up to the Tree, Naruto saw Sasuke doubled over around a branch just as he himself had been earlier.

Naruto was about to call up to him and see if he was hurt, but Sasuke quickly pulled himself up and onto the branch before he could do so. He then wordlessly dropped to the ground, holding his stomach.

As Sasuke lined himself up for another go, Naruto took his own turn and went too high over the branch. He followed shortly behind Naruto, managing to kick off the branch before passing over it himself and almost landing on top of the blonde.

A few tries later, and Sasuke found himself just barely managing to land feet first onto the branch. Unexpected as it was, he went about flailing his arms to try and maintain balance. Doing this, he managed to dig one of his Shuko into a neighboring branch to steady himself, and he looked back at Naruto with a grin after all was said and done.

Naruto laughed and shot his fist into the air, "Yatta! Sasuke, you did it!"

"Your turn, Naruto!" Sasuke replied back, with an expectant look on his face.

He considered the point behind jumping _up_ to the tree; why didn't Naruto simply practice by jumping between slight elevations, or using marked spots on the ground to jump between? That seemed like it would have been a lot easier… but he had to admit, this _was_ pretty fun.

Well, when it didn't involve injury.

Naruto shot up to the tree and just barely managed to land feet first onto the tree limb. Unfortunately, he landed with bad footing, and almost immediately lost what little balance he had. His arms flailed about frantically as he fell off the tree branch as quickly as he'd jumped up to it.

Sasuke winced as Naruto hit the ground.

The blonde looked up at him with a look that seemed like a cross between anger and disappointment, that much becoming clearer after he spoke. "Sasuke! What the heck? Why didn't you try to catch me?!"

Sasuke held out his hands, palm facing forward towards Naruto. He gave them a wiggle to emphasize as he said, "Shuko."

Naruto looked and remembered the arrays of tiny spikes, he then looked down to his own hand. "Oh, right, uh, thanks for _not_ catching me then."

"You're welcome! Come on, get up and try again; I bet you can do it this time!"

Grinning at the words of encouragement, Naruto jumped to his feet despite the weariness from the fall and tried again. However, before he made his next attempt, he voiced a thought that he'd nearly forgotten about. "Hey, wait a minute…how come you're allowed to have ninja tools but I'm not? I thought kids weren't allowed to have shinobi gear!"

Sasuke looked at Naruto as if he'd spoken in a foreign language, "…wait…that's a rule? That sounds kinda dumb."

"Yeah it's a rule! I got my own ninja tools taken away after I worked hard to get them!"

Sasuke had to think about that, "Well…these aren't really my ninja tools, they're my brother's old tools…so…it doesn't count, maybe?"

That didn't really offer any help or closure to the question, but it made enough sense to the blond for him to let it go.

As Naruto struggled to leap at that first tree branch, Sasuke decided to venture forward and test out the next step of the exercise based on what he remembered. He carefully lined himself up, keeping his balance, and hopped along the branch to make sure he could keep his footing when landing.

After several hops, and now feeling confident enough to do so, he aimed towards another branch on the same tree and leapt to it.

He successfully made the jump, but had to quickly crouch and grab hold with his shuko to steady himself.

"Hey, no fair! I haven't gotten to the first branch yet!" Came Naruto's indignant outcry.

Sasuke stood up and shot back, "Well then hurry up and do it already, slowpoke!"

It took several more tries, but Naruto was able to successfully land on the first tree limb, though he ended up flailing about and gripping at the core of the tree to prevent himself from falling. Still, he made it, and that was more than enough for him to celebrate the little victory.

"I think you have to work on your balance." Sasuke commented once Naruto had finished his cheering.

Naruto cautiously took a few steps along the branch before asking, "How am I supposed to do that?"

Sasuke chuckled and pointed to Naruto as the blonde continued taking steps across the branch, "You're already doing it, see? Just keep walking across the branches, get used to the new footing. You can try jumping on the one branch too, like I was doing."

The idea sounded good enough to Naruto, so he decided to go along with it. He took a few more steps, then decided he'd worked up enough courage to jump in place. The shaking of the tree branch when he came back down made him panic and grab hold of the core of the tree in desperation.

Nevertheless, he soon tried again, and then again. He kept practicing with keeping balance and holding his footing there on that branch until he was confident enough in his footing to try and leap over to the tree branch Sasuke was perched at.

Unfortunately, Naruto hadn't aimed the jump properly, and he was coming up short for the distance. He reached out to try and grab hold of the tree branch, but he could quite reach far enough.

Naruto fell straight to the ground and landed with a thud.

The blonde slowly rolled over and held his chest with a pained expression, an expression that turned to an accusatory glare up at the boy in the tree.

The glare was met with a shrug and a lighthearted smirk from the Uchiha kid, "If you really want me to turn your hands into hamburger, I can just shake your hand with these on if you want." He emphasized with a wave of his hand, displaying the array of spikes once again.

Naruto mentally facepalmed, ' _right, shaku…duh.'_ He could hear the fox chuckling in the back of his mind, and so he grumbled a response under his breath.

After he got up and dusted himself off, Naruto immediately aimed and leapt for the tree branch. It took two tries before he got the jutsu to activate again, but he managed and grabbed hold of the branch, pulling himself up. He stood next to Sasuke and lightly grumbled, "Sorry, I forget you have those spike gloves on."

"Shinpai nai." Sasuke said with a casual dismissive wave of his hand.

Naruto tilted his head and squinted his eyes, "…Shin- _what_ -now _?_ "

Sasuke rolled his eyes and explained it, "It's a phrase, it means don't worry about it."

" _ **Technically**_ **it translates into 'no worries', but he's close enough."** , the kitsune idly corrected.

"Oh, well okay then." Naruto then grinned as an idea popped into his head. He playfully tapped Sasuke in the shoulder with the back of his hand and said, "Let's see who can make it to the river first!"

Before Sasuke had time to react, the blonde had already jumped ahead and managed to stick the landing by the skin of his teeth. " _Hey_! No fair!" Sasuke called out, before aiming and hastily making a jump after Naruto. Due to his haste, he missed his target and fell to ground level leading into a tumble.

Naruto glanced back and laughed.

" **This is a** _ **really**_ **bad idea."** , Rai lazily commented, knowing full well that his words fell on deaf ears.

Naruto went to give his stubborn reply, but the lapse in attention caused him to make a mistake in his trajectory and he ended up slamming into the next branch he was aiming for.

" **I told-"** Rai began.

"I _know_!" Naruto interrupted with a pained grunt. Given that his field of view was currently aimed downward, he happened to notice Sasuke racing past across the ground. "HEY! Cheater!" he yelled out as he struggled to get back to his feet on the tree limb.

Sasuke glanced back to Naruto and shouted as he ran, "Takes one to know one! Besides, you never said _how_ we had to get to the river!"

Naruto hopped down to the ground, and took off running after Sasuke, though the boy already had a sizeable lead on him. He ran as fast as he could, and he even started gaining enough ground to eventually close the gap between them.

Suddenly, right as Naruto thought he was about to pass him, Sasuke had a burst of speed and very quickly distanced himself from the baffled blonde.

"What the heck?!" he said aloud to himself and struggled to try and catch up.

" **I assume that speed boost he used is from the part of the mobility jutsu you decided to skip over. The part concerning athletics."**

Naruto hopped in on the fox's prison and had a confused expression as he said, "Wait, really? Where'd it say anything about running?"

Rai gave the boy a deadpan look, **"Literally the entire first section you skipped over; the material concerning athletics, as I** _ **just**_ **said seconds ago."**

The blonde groaned aloud, but when he exited the kitsune's prison, he immediately mistepped due to the momentum he'd forgotten about and wound up faceplanting. Naruto quickly picked himself up and kept running, but he utterly failed to catch up, or even gain any ground.

By the time Naruto caught up, Sasuke was already at the finish line. He was leaning against a tree by the edge of the river and waiting. The kid had a mildly judgmental expression as he said, "So, did you skip the first part of the mobility jutsu or something? Didn't think I'd leave you in the dust like that."

Naruto thought about denying the claim, but hesitantly decided to admit to it. "I thought the first part looked boring… The other part, what with the jumping around long distances and super high and stuff; _that_ looked way cooler!"

The Uchiha kid stared at Naruto with a judgmental look for a moment, then shrugged it off whilst offering a comment. "Well...jumping around and leaping long distances _is_ pretty cool I guess." He then snapped his fingers before continuing, "Hey! Maybe _that's_ why you had such a tough time with the tree jumping exercise and I didn't!"

The blonde looked at Sasuke with a confused expression, "What's running got to do with jumping out of trees?"

Funnily enough, Rai was thinking the same thing, and had voiced such at the same time Naruto did.

"H-Hey, I didn't say I knew for sure! I'm just _guessing_ ; maybe cause you're running around and it gets you used to channeling chakra through your legs and stuff." Sasuke said in a mildly exasperated fashion.

Naruto seemed to think that the explanation made sense. Rai was less than convinced; though he had to admit that the Uchiha kid's explanation was plausible at the very least.

* * *

A short distance away, Cat and Fox's observation was interrupted as an ANBU unexpectedly arrived next to them in a seemingly rushed fashion. Cat was immediately put on guard upon the ANBU's arrival, though Fox was quick to try and mitigate any escalation on her part.

"We're on strict assignment from the Sandaime, state your business." Fox calmly demanded.

The ANBU nodded and quickly retrieved a small, specially sealed parcel from his front pouch before handing said parcel over to Cat. The particular seal used signified that this was from the Hokage himself.

Fox eyed the ANBU cautiously as Cat wasted no time in reading over what was written within.

Cat leaned to Fox and gestured to the paper, on which were recall orders; It was genuine by the looks of it. The two of them were apparently being summoned by the Hokage on matters concerning their mission, though the exact reason wasn't stated.

Ordinarily, this may have set a shinobi on edge, being randomly recalled in the middle of assignment for unspecified reasons…but for Fox and Cat, given the sensitive nature of their assignment and everything regarding their overall objective, it wasn't necessarily that out of place. It wasn't the first time either, as a matter of fact.

"OK, this one's taking over for us until we return. Let's go." Fox stated, and he and his partner quickly exited the training ground.

However, they briefly stopped just outside the gates and shrouded from view. Cat and Fox eyed one another before Fox whispered, "Smelled like a friendly, but I didn't recognize them… Anything unusual to you?"

Cat shook her head, "Nothing, no screwy business with the writing, no unusual chakra signature from the guy…but same as you, I couldn't recognize them. Think he might be a newbie?"

"…That seems plausible, actually. He _has_ to at least be from the village, otherwise one of us would have sensed something out of order." Fox eventually said after a brief bit of thinking. "Hiruzen-sama needs us, let's keep moving."

"Right behind you." And the two ANBU took off towards the Hokage tower.

* * *

Rai felt around and noticed that the distinct presence he'd become used to appeared to be fading into the distance. _**'That's…odd. The bothersome shinobi woman and her friend seem to be leaving. Wonder where they're off to?'**_ He thought to himself.

Peering a bit further, he picked up on a new presence that was now nearby. This one was just out of sight of the brat and his new friend, near where the observing duo were previously. The newcomer seemed to have a miniscule level of fear, but aside from that, nothing really seemed off about him.

Then again, he didn't really have any significant frame of reference for shinobi outside the usual two observers and that asinine Hokage person. The ones called Shikaku and Inoichi _might_ have been a decent reference, had he seen any semblance of them outside their usual interactions with the kid…

Nevertheless, If Naruto's observers saw fit to let that newcomer be here in their stead, then it was reasonable to assume he wasn't a threat… Rai elected to pay no mind to the individual, at least for now.

He turned his attention back to the boys; Naruto seemed to be chatting with the Uchiha kid, going over their jutsu and trying to pool their knowledge together in order to make additional progress. Although, from the sound of it, it almost seemed like they were trying to balance out their skill difference, or even things out or…

' _ **Are they…? They are! Those infantile brats are actually arguing over which aspect of the mobility jutsu is more appealing!?'**_ The kitsune let out an irritable groan, followed by a deep sigh. He reminded himself, yet again, that he was still dealing with children…

Rai saw that there really wasn't anything he could possibly add to the situation, nor did he want to involve himself in the first place. He elected to lay in a relaxed heap, curled up amongst his tails. Now seemed like as good a time as any to sleep, or just let his mind wander as was usually the case.

' _ **I'll check up on the brat later, he'll be fine in the meantime with that Uchiha brat keeping him occupied.'**_

Back in reality, the two boys had come to agree to disagree on the topic of which was cooler: the acrobatic or Athletic aspects of the mobility jutsu.

"Well, I guess being able to outrun people _is_ handy… but I still think being able to reach almost any height by jumping is way cooler." Naruto adamantly asserted with his arms folded.

Sasuke scoffed, "And _I_ still think being faster is better since you can get anywhere you want quicker…but, the jumping aspect is pretty cool too I guess."

Naruto grinned and stubbornly chalked that up as a victory.

The blonde turned and looked to a crooked tree that sat at the edge of the river, some of its roots visible due to the effects of erosion on the river bank around it. However, there was something that caught his eye, near the end of the branch. A Shuriken sat embedded into the side of the branch just out over the water a few feet.

' _Yatta! Just what I needed, a good start to getting back my ninja tools!'_ he thought to himself with a grin.

The boy focused the best he could and tried to leap up to the one branch that gradually leaned out over the river. His first attempt failed, as expected, and he landed flat on his butt with an "Oof!"

"Naruto? I don't think that's such a good idea to mess around by the river, that water's gotta be _super_ cold." Sasuke warned upon noticing what the blonde was trying to do, though not yet seeing _why_ he was doing it.

Naruto turned to Sasuke and, with a dismissive look, readied himself for another attempt. "It's _just_ water, Sasuke! If it were dangerous, they'd have this place fenced off."

"Umm, they _do_ have this place fenced off…" Sasuke replied matter-of-factly.

"You know what I mean!" The blonde retorted in exasperation. "Come on, There's a shuriken at the end of this branch with my name on it!" He then leapt again, managing to half-ass the jutsu and jump just enough to reach out and grab hold of the branch.

Sasuke folded his arms as he watched the idiot blond go about his endeavor, "Is that dumb shuriken really worth risking falling into frigid river water?"

Naruto was about to turn and reply but was interrupted by a sudden pinch in his left leg that caused him to lightly suck in a bit of air out of reflex. Looking down, he ran his hand over the spot and pulled what appeared to be a splinter from his pantleg.

To his side, he saw a spot of exposed wood fragments, probably from shinobi training as far as he could guess. Must have been where the splinter came from. "Dumb old tree…I hate splinters." The blonde idly chucked the offending object into the river and set about moving himself closer to that Shuriken.

Naruto carefully tip-toed his way down the branch, inching ever closer to his prize.

There was a subtle ache that made itself known to the blonde, somewhere in his left leg. ' _Damn splinter must have gone deeper than I thought….stupid wood.'_ He thought to himself as he kept himself focused on balancing.

However, the ache became more pronounced the further along the branch he got. Actually, now that he thought about it, he was starting to ache in other areas too. Did he push himself too hard again? Rai warned him about overexerting himself.

The blonde waved it off, as he was nearly to the shuriken, close enough to reach it if he'd been laying down.

Naruto inched one step closer and carefully went to get to his knees, only to find that he was a bit stiff…it was difficult to bend his legs for some reason. With a bit of extra effort, he managed to get down on one knee and brace himself with his one hand, while using his free hand to reach out.

He was so close, he could practically touch the thing. The boy gingerly edged himself closer, just close enough to get his thumb and index finger into a grip over one of the shuriken's prongs. ' _that's it, now to just pull it….out….just, pull…!'_

Naruto went to pull the star out of the bark, but found it to be more difficult than he thought. He tried to get closer, but…he couldn't seem to get enough of a wiggle in to inch any closer. ' _…what, what the heck is going on?'_ The boy struggled and fought, with a bit of extra effort, he finally got the Shuriken free, but noticed he was having a great deal of difficulty keeping his grip to the tree. He also noted that the ache from earlier had spread throughout his whole body.

' _OK, this is freaking me out, is this shuriken cursed or something?'_ Naruto turned and, with great effort, managed to toss the shuriken to shore, near where Sasuke stood. Though it landed a lot closer to him than he'd intended

"HEY! Watch it!" came Sasuke's justified response upon having a bladed throwing weapon embed itself into the dirt near his feet.

Naruto apologized as he tried to stand up, "S-sorry! I'm…I can't…" He couldn't form the right words with how much he was struggling to keep focus on his balance.

The blonde was finding it excruciatingly difficult just to move. Every part of him ached, his left leg was stiff as a board and he couldn't so much as bend his knee. Naruto barely managed to get to standing, and he fought to tip-toe back to his starting point.

Panic set in, as every moment the problem continued to get progressively worse.

Despite his pained effort, he soon found himself nearly unable to move at all. It wasn't that his whole body was stiff, sure his left leg was stiff…but everything just…. _ached_ and felt weakand unresponsive; not one part of his body would do what he wanted it to.

It almost felt like a combination between a muscle cramp, and that feeling like he'd just woken up and was trying to get out of the bed while half asleep, only ten times worse.

"Uhh…Naruto, you alright up there?" Sasuke called up to the blonde.

Naruto motioned to respond, but no sooner did the first word leave his mouth did his left leg seize up.

The boy's breath caught in his throat, his heart pounded like a drum in his chest… and the next thing Naruto knew, the world was spinning, and he was falling...

 _to be continued..._

* * *

 _ **Author's notes**_

Hey folks, I know its been a while. Terribly sorry but there's not much I could do about that.

This chapter sees the introduction of everyone's favorite edgelord, sir duckbutt himself! (ha! overused jokes, get it?)

overused memes/jokes aside, I had a spot of difficulty with writing Sasukes charatcer since we see so little of him prior to his traumatic shift in character during the academy. Or maybe I just haven't paid enough attention? Either way. I did as much research as I could, and came to the conclusion that _this_ version seemed like a fitting characterization. Gives hints of his future self, hints of how his relationship with the beloved blonde idiot will be, etc etc. I tried to keep him in tune with how we know his character to be in the anime, minus the whole "brother murdered my clan" thing since that hasn't happened yet. ALso hinted at possible neglect from his family being a thing, since that was kind of a thing in the anime if I'm not mistaken. I don't think Naruto and Sasuke met prior to the academy in the anime, so, uncharted territory ftw!

We've officially bypassed any semblance of "divergent story" and skipped happily into the realm of AU at this point, so...weeee I guess?

OH, on an important note, I also used this as an opportunity to flesh out how I'm gonna handle jutsu explanations and stuff, along with the inclusion of actual ninja tools! Shaku were a thing, and I know what you're thinking "Well, cyncialkyuubi, since ninja can just use chakra to stick to walls and stuff, why would they ever need shaku?" Well, in case they needed to conserve chakra for long missions or for children who haven't learned that technique yet, duh! In all seriousness, I'll always have an explanation for why I add things.

SO, yeah, we're gonna be expanding the shinobi arsenal a tad, because I think that'd be interesting to see, don't you?

As for jutsu explanation, I'm...gonna be decidedly vague in a lot of areas since I don't think it offers much in the line of plot progression to go into significfant detail into the emchanisms behind jutsu. I'm going to have context be given for jutsu, and what does what and such, and I'll continue having it shown that Naruto is making tangible progress and I won't wave my magic narrator wand to give him things.


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